Chokeholds &
Restraints
Direct line: (239) 571-1840 · GregoryGilbertson@proton.me
Attorney and law-firm inquiries only
Restraint force is where training and practice separate fastest: chokeholds, carotid and neck restraints, prone and positional restraint, and force applied to people already in handcuffs. The analysis measures what was done against what national standards and agency policy authorize.
Three experts. Over 110 years.
Professor Gregory Gilbertson (Ret.), FBI Special Agent Christopher Holland (Ret.), and Sheriff Robert Snaza consult with attorneys nationwide regarding police practices and procedures, use of force, false arrest, police misconduct, criminal, and self-defense casework.
CEO & OwnerThirty-eight years in four uniforms: street cop, soldier, professor, investigator. More than 220 matters in 42 states and D.C. since 2014, with testimony that has not been excluded at trial in any state or federal court.
Full biography
ConsultantMore than thirty-five years in public safety: twelve years and three terms as the elected Sheriff of Lewis County, Washington, and six years a commissioner of the state board that sets peace-officer training standards.
Full profile
ConsultantForty years of investigative casework, from patrolman in St. Louis County to the FBI in Chicago, and on to task forces in Afghanistan and Liberia. His work on the Idaho student murders is examined in Broken Plea, the New York Times bestseller by Christopher Whitcomb.
Full profileNever excluded. Professor Gilbertson’s testimony has not been excluded at trial in any state or federal court.
The Hon. Richard A. Jones United States District Judge“Mr. Gilbertson’s qualifications demonstrate extensive experience in policing. His expansive work as a police officer in Georgia, with assignments as a SWAT team officer, juvenile court investigator, school resource officer, stakeout squad officer, senior patrolman, and patrolman; then a career as a tenured college professor and university lecturer teaching criminal justice courses to degree-seeking students at colleges and universities, and as a licensed private investigator conducting felony pretrial investigations for attorneys in Washington State in dozens of criminal cases, makes him unique in the field of police expert witnesses. The Court finds that, based on his experience, Mr. Gilbertson’s testimony can be expected to have a reliable basis in knowledge and experience of police practices.”
What this covers.
Within this engagement
- Chokeholds and carotid or neck restraints
- Prone and positional restraints
- Hands-on physical force
- Force against restrained or handcuffed people
- Duty to render or request medical aid during restraint
- Agency restraint policy and training analysis
Video of the restraint sequence, use-of-force and supplemental reports, medical records where counsel provides them, officer training files, and the agency's restraint policies, read against national standards and the duty to render aid.
Engagement terms and the published fee schedule: For Retaining Counsel →
Related casework.
Case accounts as published by retaining counsel. No result is promised for any other matter.
Working references for this practice area.
Guides for retaining counsel, written from the same record this analysis reads.
Before the record is sent.
Was the restraint itself the excessive force?
What does retention cost?
Send a restraint record.
Attorney and law-firm inquiries only. Conflicts are checked before anything substantive, and you will hear about a conflict immediately.
Inquiry sent.
You will hear back directly. If the matter is urgent, call (239) 571-1840.
Conflicts are checked before any substantive discussion. Please do not send privileged material with a first inquiry; after retention the record is exchanged on physical media. Gregory consults for attorneys and their staff only, and does not provide legal advice or attorney referrals to individuals.