I first saw this nasty little film when the Mirror’s crime correspondent Jon Clements recently blogged about the story. Now doing the youtube rounds, the film shows two male officers at a US police station launching a pretty brutal attack on a young girl being held in custody.
The girl, 15, was in a cell at the police station after being arrested for allegedly stealing a car. She and a friend had ‘borrowed’ the friend’s mother’s car. I’m sure the girl was truculent, obnoxious and so on – the footage shows her kicking off her shoes defiantly (when asked to remove them) – but can there be any justification for a police officer throwing a 15 year old girl to the floor, by her hair, before punching her twice when she’s on the ground? And while another officer stands by? And when the girl posed no immediate threat to his safety? She was unarmed, half his size and half his age.
Washington state police clearly don’t think so. They released the footage as part of a criminal investigation into the officer’s behaviour. Now the teenager has spoken on air about the experience, and she comes across well. Articulate, well-spoken and with a concerned father in tow, I don’t fancy the officer’s chances of getting out of this one.
Video courtesy: CBS News
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