The goal is to avoid situations the likes of which led to Floyd’s death and, just last week, to the death of Daunte Wright, whose funeral was Thursday. The main concept over the week of classes held at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy centered on teaching cops how to engage suspects verbally, then employ physical judo techniques if needed, to deescalate confrontations without using deadly force. Last summer’s headlines pushed these courses, which had been in development since 2018, to the top of the priority list. Because the sport, known by insiders as “the gentle way” of martial arts, has little emphasis on striking and is considered less violent than some of its brethren, some leaders in judo, and in policing, saw an opportunity to use the discipline to rethink officer training. The judo project is, by any account, an outside-the-box idea. That’s been a common refrain over a year’s worth of police shootings and protests, all of which have been underscored by calls for police reform. “All law-enforcement officers I know, we feel we need to bring that back in line somehow.” “The social contract between police officers and the public is degrading a bit,” said Joe Yungwirth, a trainer at the workshop who built his career doing counterterrorism work for the FBI and now runs a judo academy in North Carolina. They came to the classes with the idea that judo, the martial art with a deep global history and an imprint at the Olympics, but still shallow roots in the United States, might be able to help fix it. No one attending the conference would deny that the profession failed the day Floyd died with Chauvin’s knee on his neck. The class took place the same week as jury selection for the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer who was convicted Tuesday of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. USA Judo is sponsoring training sessions for police departments throughout the country in hopes of preventing the use of deadly force when officers encounter possible suspects on the street. John Richard of the Glen Rock Wyoming Police Department captures the action with his camera phone. ![]() Matthew Maestas, left, of the Torrington, Wyoming Police Department and Ryan Rhoades, obscured at center, of the Meridian, Idaho Police Department practice a judo hold on instructor Taybren Lee of the LA Police Department during a training workshop on March 9, 2021, in Douglas, Wyoming. ![]() ![]() USA Judo officials spearheaded the training session to try to give officers techniques that could help them avoid using deadly force when they encounter potential suspects.
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