Over the weekend, a video of cops tackling a civilian to the ground in front of BTL Park made its way to social media. But at the start of the video, one of the cops is seen punching the civilian in the face before the three of them try to restrain him.
It might look like a classic case of police abuse but the ComPol says that this video actually shows what officers have to endure when trying to detain someone resisting arrest.
Here's what he told us today:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Certainly, you would know that it's nothing new to policing. Often times officers encounter resistance when trying to take persons into custody and while many a times the videographer would not capture what the civilian would do but only capture what the police do or, on occasion, they would edit the video to make it seem like the police is the bad one. This time, we actually saw a video that depicts everything and so it's an eye-opener, I hope, to the public to understand that it is extremely difficult for officers at times when trying to detain some persons. Yes, there are occasions when some people would easily concede to being arrested, but there are some occasions when there is resistance and police have to apply the best possible measure to deal with the situation without causing injury to person or persons."
