While many people recall more recent incidents of Police Brutality, the death of Arthur Miller Jr. spurred activism and called that the use of deadly choke holds in Law Enforcement get banned.

• 3,000 protesters assembled in Crown Heights to protest Miller’s killing and police brutality as exemplified by the chokehold, a grappling hold from martial arts that became popular with law enforcement.
• Los Angeles Police Department outlawed the chokehold in 1982 (New York Times)
• The New York City Police Department banned the chokehold in 1993, but they still receive complaints about officers using it. The complaints are made most often in primarily black neighborhoods in the city, indicating potential bias.
• The chokehold has been central to a number of other deaths in Brooklyn, including that of James Young in 2003, and Eric Garner in July 2014. When Garner died on July 17, 2014, the controversial police tactic once again sparked a massive national debate on the subject.

The chokehold is a military grappling move that has proven deadly when used on civilians. As such, controversy cannot help but follow. The hold is particularly devastating when used on people who have health problems or on medication, drugs, or alcohol. The deaths of Arthur Miller and Eric Garner happened over three decades apart in time, despite changes to police training and guidelines.

Articles:

Who Controls the Streets –  The Village Voice – July 3, 1978 Full Article

Arthur Miller’s death at the hands of the New York City police sparked an intense debate about the use of the controversial police chokehold in 1978. At the time of the incident that lead to his death, Arthur Miller was a popular businessman who was not charged with committing a crime. The choke hold was applied to him after he argued with several police officers over construction debris being loaded into a vehicle. Miller, who was the owner of a construction company, was a husband and father of six children who had an outstanding reputation in his community.