Longmont emergency crews used the powerful sedative ketamine 93 times over a two-year period before halting the practice in September following the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain in Aurora, Jeff Satur, deputy police chief, said Friday.
Although ketamine caused no adverse effects after it was administered to suspects during that time, city emergency medical services personnel stopped using the drug on the advice of Longmont Public Safety Medical Director Dr. Julie Krell Hall, Satur said.
McClain’s death prompted the decision to halt administering ketamine, Satur said. “We are no longer using ketamine,” he said. “We stopped its use effective immediately” on Sept. 16.
The Public Safety Department’s use of ketamine and other methods of subduing crime suspects will be reviewed by city council during a work session Tuesday night. Councilwoman Polly Christensen lobbied for the study session to assure residents police and emergency crews are following the rules when it comes to dealing with suspects.
“I think we have an overwhelmingly good police force,” Christensen said. “I think it’s important to have a public review of what our officers do and don’t do to enforce the law.
“I want people to know we don’t use chokeholds or ketamine,” she said.
Chokeholds also are not used by Longmont police to control suspects, Satur said. Chokeholds have proven to be unreliable and can put officers in legal jeopardy if they are employed against people trying to fight or escape police custody, he said.
“We don’t train on using chokeholds. They are certainly not the focus of our training,” Satur said.
Christensen said she asked for a review of the Public Safety Department’s use of force policy after the death of George Floyd in May in Minneapolis. Floyd, 46, died after a police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly 8 minutes as three other officers assisted during an arrest.
Floyd’s death prompted reviews of police using chokeholds, which have been banned in Colorado since 2016. Congressional Democrats have proposed legislation banning all neck restraints, according to NPR
A chokehold restricts the airway when pressure is applied to the front of the neck. A stranglehold restricts blood flow to the brains when pressure is applied to the side of the neck, NPR reported.
An NPR review of bans on neck restraints in some of the nation’s largest police departments found them largely ineffective. When chokeholds were specifically targeted, a variation of the neck restraint was often allowed to be used, NPR reported.
While chokeholds have been banned in Colorado, ketamine can be effective in calming suspects if used properly, Satur said. It is often used to prevent highly agitated suspects from hurting themselves or others.
“Our main focus is to keep people safe and this has been a good tool for that use,” Satur said.
The sedative was administered 68 times for pain management and in 25 instances when suspects were exhibiting “suspected excited delirium,” according to an email from Satur outlining use of ketamine.
The Longmont Fire Department got a waiver from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for the use of ketamine in early 2018 and emergency medical units began carrying and using ketamine in March 2018, according to the email.
The waiver required the drug’s use only by highly trained personnel and under specific conditions. Each time ketamine was used came under direct review by Krell Hall. “To date, there have been no adverse effects/outcomes as the result of ketamine administration with the Longmont EMS system,” according to the data in Satur's email.
Some have linked the use of ketamine to the 2019 death of McClain in Aurora, including McClain’s family. McCLain was placed in a chokehold and then injected with ketamine while he was handcuffed by police. McClain’s death spurred state and federal investigations and a federal lawsuit against the city of Aurora.
McClain died of a heart attack while he was transferred to a local hospital.
Some medical experts say ketamine should not be used while a suspect is handcuffed and on the ground.
