Juneau Police outline policy changes after July 30 use-of-force incident; medical dispatch and training reforms proposed

Chief of Police briefed the assembly on an initial internal review of the July 30 use-of-force incident and outlined multiple policy, training and procedural changes the department is pursuing. The chief said the department paused to assess “why did this happen?” and emphasized the review is ongoing, with some items still under investigation.

The chief said a concrete operational change already under way is to make unconsciousness a trigger to request a priority medical response (ambulance plus fire truck) rather than require officers or dispatch to complete a longer EMD checklist. "If an officer has somebody who's unconscious ... we're going to skip forward in the process and just dispatch it as a priority medical call," the chief said. The change is intended to shorten response time for cases in custody or during use of force when someone becomes unresponsive.

On arrest-control tactics and training, the…