Until the hands are secured, staff accelerate. Weight goes on the back. The face goes into the floor or the mattress. The airway is no longer something anyone is watching, and the person who reviews the death is not in the cell.
Many jail policies already forbid weight that compresses the chest or restricts the airway. SafeWrap is built for that constraint. The person stays lateral. Staff can see the face and keep talking, and the rest of the booking can stay measured.
The building
The hold has to work in every post.
Intake
Two officers use SafeWrap to take wrist control, movement control, and a weapon check while the person is on their side. Booking can continue without weight on the chest.
Housing
If staff have to enter a cell, a supervisor is called. On a planned entry, roles are assigned before the door opens, and someone on the team is usually filming. It's imperative to establish control early.
Medical
SafeWrap holds the person on their side so a nurse can see the face, watch breathing, and talk to them without giving up control.
Transport
In a hallway or a van, the same two officers keep the lateral hold while they move. They do not need additional people to transport.
A public record
Two minutes after the door shut.
- 63
- Age
- Downtown Seattle jail, 2022
- Place
- Stomach-down, knees on his back
- Position
- $3.5 million
- What it cost
Michael Rowland died in the downtown Seattle jail in 2022. He had been brought in during a mental health crisis. The Seattle Times reported that corrections officers held him stomach-down, knees on his back, changed his clothes, and left him in that position. About two minutes after they left the cell, staff saw that he had stopped breathing. The medical examiner called it sudden death during physical restraint, with heart disease, obesity, and agitation as factors, and listed the manner as undetermined.
The family sued King County for $25 million. In 2026 the county agreed to pay $3.5 million. The missing piece was a position where the face and the airway stayed available after the door shut.
CTC does not replace jail policy, medical screening, or the decision to call for care. It certifies the physical method. Staff trained in it can work the hold together. It does not change with who showed up, or with how hard someone is willing to push.
Tell us the posts, from intake through housing.
Tell us the posts involved, from intake through transport. The high-risk course is for teams whose job includes restraint.