You weren’t cut, you were slashed: NYPD

The NYPD has laid out new policies for its officers including replacing the word “cut” with “slashing” or “stabbing” and outlining new rules about what type of force authorities are allowed to use against suspects.

In a Friday memo, NYPD officials defined “slashing” and “stabbing” but omitted “cut” from words to be used in describing what type of attack a victim has suffered, the New York Post reported.

“It’s pretty silly saying you can give police officers a gun and badge, and put faith in us to make judgments in life-and-death situations, then say, ‘I don’t think you understand what a stabbing is,'” a source was quoted by the Post.

The NYPD memo defined a stabbing as “a thrust or plunging motion with an edged weapon that causes a puncture wound” and a slashing as “a forceful sweeping stroke with an edged weapon that causes a laceration,” according to the Post.

Another set of new rules announced by the department concerns how officers use force on the job, Pix11 reported.

Besides mandating that authorities document any force used by or against an officer, new guidelines specifically prohibit chokeholds done to prevent a suspect from trying to swallow illegal drugs, Pix11 added.

Prior force-related guidelines were written throughout the police patrol guide, Pix11 stated, and the new changes were an effort to better define what constitutes allowable force. The new policies do not alter when officers can and cannot use force.

“We’ve been asking for years for the NYPD to put in place an excessive force policy,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of NYCLU, was quoted by Pix11. “We hope this is a good start and will result in more transparency, more accountability, more training and less unnecessary force.”