Chauvin’s supervisor testifies police policy is to roll restrained prisoner on their side

David Pleoger, a former Minneapolis Police Department sergeant and supervisor to Derek Chauvin, testified on Thursday that officers are supposed to lay prisoners on their side after their hands and feet are restrained.

Pleoger said the practice is done so that prisoners are able to “breathe easier” and without “breathing complications,” while also warning of the potential for “positional asphyxia” during arrests.

“If you restrain somebody or leave them on their chest and stomach for too long, their breathing can become compromised,” Pleoger said.

Chauvin prompted widespread scrutiny last year after he was recorded kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest. Footage of the incident that went viral on social media following Floyd’s death sparked months of protests against police brutality and racial injustice.

In police bodycam footage released last year, one of the responding officers, Thomas Lane, asked while Floyd’s front was pressed to the ground whether they should lay him on his side. 

“No, he’s staying put where we got him,” Chauvin responded, according to The New York Times.

During the trial on Thursday, Pleoger was also pressed by prosecutor Steve Schleicher for his opinion as to when the restraint of Floyd should have ended in the encounter. 

“When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint,” Pleoger said. 

“And that was after he was handcuffed and on the ground and no longer resisting?” Schleicher followed up. 

“Correct,” Pleoger answered.