Marietta police train in jiu-jitsu, but challenges come with cops using martial arts
Marietta police officers are undergoing mandatory Jiu-jitsu training as a form of de-escalation. But the use of chokeholds is common and woven into various other martial arts moves.
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More metro Atlanta police officers are training in martial arts as an alternative to tasers or guns during situations that can be de-escalated.
That’s as protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd and police brutality towards other Black Americans are ushering departments to break from just more traditional, militarized police training.
A recent report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Marshall Project focused on the Marietta Police Department adopting mandatory jiu-jitsu training for officers. Jiu-jitsu includes the use of chokeholds, which is common and woven into various martial arts moves.
Jamiles Lartey is a staff writer at the Marshall Project. He sat down with WABE’s “All Things Considered” to discuss why he began looking into this jiu-jitsu approach for Marietta police, which is meant to use an opponent’s force against them.
Lily Oppenheimer contributed to this report.
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