Calls for de-escalation training grow after Atlanta shooting

KATE BRUMBACK and R.J. RICO

Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta in the span of less than three weeks have led to a push in the U.S. for more training of police officers in how to de-escalate tense situations before they explode in violence.

"You've got to get cops to understand that it's not a cowardly act, that backing off could save this person's life," said Tom Manger, a retired police chief in Virginia and Maryland and former president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Officers undergoing de-escalation training are...