‘Outdated and offensive’: police in England and Wales barred from blaming restraint deaths on ‘excited delirium’

The pseudoscientific term, made notorious by George Floyd’s murder in the US, will no longer be used by the police watchdog

The police watchdog for England and Wales has removed a controversial medical term from its incident forms after claims it plays into racist stereotypes and detracts attention from police brutality.

Until now, police forces referring a death or serious incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have been given the option to tick “excited delirium” in a list of relevant factors. The term has historically been used to describe people who are agitated or acting bizarrely, usually because of mental illness, drug use or both. Symptoms are said to include insensitivity to pain, aggression, increased strength and elevated heart rate.