Chemical Restraint
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The practice of giving sedatives to people detained by police has spread quietly across the nation over the last 15 years, built on questionable science and backed by police-aligned experts, an investigation led by The Associated Press has found. Based on thousands of pages of law enforcement and medical records and videos of dozens of incidents, the investigation shows how a strategy intended to reduce violence and save lives has resulted in some avoidable deaths.
At least 94 people died after they were given sedatives and restrained by police from 2012 through 2021, according to findings by the AP in collaboration with FRONTLINE (PBS) and the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism. That’s nearly 10% of the more than 1,000 deaths identified during the investigation of people subdued by police in ways that are not supposed to be fatal. About half of the 94 who died were Black, including Jackson.
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I listened to a podcast called 'When Things Fell Apart' on Excited Delirium a few weeks ago. A number of women had died and cause of death had been diagnosed in that way - the claim was having sex after taking cocaine caused it. It turned out they'd been murdered by a serial rapist. The implication was that the condition had been pretty much invented by a pathologist why really didn't know what he was doing.
