AB 490Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety
Training Bulletin -Assembly Bill 490
Topic: Assembly Bill 490
Summary: Assembly Bill 490, signed September 30, 2021, modified California Legislation prohibiting Law Enforcement agencies from implementing techniques involving a substantial risk of positional asphyxia.
On September 30, 2021, Governor Newsom signed AB 490 into law. The provisions in AB 490 took effect on January, 1, 2022. AB 490 modified Government Code Section 7286.5. This amendment prohibited Law Enforcement agencies from teaching, training, and implementing techniques or transport methods that create a substantial risk for positional asphyxia.
Positional Asphyxia means situation a person in a manner that compresses their airway and reduces the likelihood that they will be able to breathe normally. This includes, without limitation, the use of any physical restraint technique, device, or position that causes a person's respiratory airway to be compressed or impairs the person's breathing or respiratory capacity, including any technique in which pressure or body weight is unreasonably applied against a restrained person's neck, torso, or back or positioning a restrained person in a prone or supine position without proper monitoring for signs of asphyxia.