Ex-Cop
To start with I don’t know what happened leading up to the point when he was on his knees. I don’t know what reason they gave for stopping and arresting him.
What I Saw in the Video
While on the ground on his knees the dad allowed the female officer to place his right hand behind his back but resisted the male officer who was trying to handcuff him from the left, most likely because the officer handcuffed his left hand and was twisting his arm back making it hurt and in such a position that he was not able to immediately relax.
The dad was resisting passively, not actively, and he was not using force nor threatening force against the officers. When someone is passively resisting arrest, this allows Police to use REASONABLE force to effect the arrest, if necessary, and only if other tactical options have not worked or cannot be used. In this case, however, the male officer used EXCESSIVE and UNREASONABLE force given the dad was only passively resisting by not placing his left arm behind his back as asked.
The arresting officer clearly did not have control over his emotions, he violently threw the dad backwards to the ground causing his head to hit the concrete, you can see and hear this in the video – he absolutely did not need to do that.
The officer was not in any physical danger and could have used other tactical options first to get the dad to comply; or he could have waited for the other officers to arrive to assist. He could have used verbal communication skills to appeal to the dad to comply. He could have allowed his female officer to do that which often is more successful in these situations.
He also had a number of other, less forceful tactical options to consider and use to control the dad’s arm and place him forwards rather than backwards to effect arrest.
Throwing the dad backwards like that without supporting his body caused the dad’s head to hit the concrete hard. This is extremely dangerous as he could have caused a serious head injury or worse! I suspect from what I saw and the way his head hit the concrete without the officer supporting him, that the dad probably at the very least has a concussion and needs to seek medical assistance.
Now, because his head hit the ground so hard, he is clearly, in the video, holding his head in pain with one arm and protecting his face while the officer is trying to forcefully place his left hand behind his back while he is lying on his side on the ground. The officer has him pinned on the ground and the dad is not trying to get up. Because he is not trying to get up and because the female officer is also pinning him to the ground, the male officer could have taken time to see if the dad is OK and realise he is holding his head in pain, which seems like he is passively resisting, but he is just trying to protect his head at this stage.
Secondly, while the dad is on the ground still passively resisting arrest (this is often a natural freeze response many people have when they are scared, particularly after being hurt, rather than a deliberate attempt at resisting arrest), he is being treated with unreasonable and excessive force, despite the officers having good control of his body.
This situation absolutely did not warrant the male officer to have his knee on his head pinning him to the ground, with his other leg slightly raised meaning he had his full weight on the man’s head – that can cause the person to stop breathing – as was seen in the US in the George Floyd case. This is unreasonable and excessive force! This type of force is only used in extreme situations where the officer is being threatened with physical force which could result in injury or harm to the officer or members of the public, or if the person being arrested is spitting or trying to bite.
The dad in this case is quiet, not spitting, threatening or yelling. You can hear him repeating calmly: “I am not resisting, please stop.” The excessive force the officer used was in no way warranted in this situation as it is very dangerous and can cause serious injury or death!
You can see the dad (at 0.28 in the video) when the officer is telling the dad’s son to move back, that the dad is in no way actively resisting arrest at that point. He is lying down being pinned to the ground by the female officer who is kneeling on his knees, while the male officer has his full weight on the dad’s head pinning him to the concrete.
The dad is clearly not moving at all or resisting. So why continue with the excessive use of force?
Then the boy filming gets tackled by the man in the red hoodie from behind and is in shock pleading for the man to stop. Bystanders, taken aback by this violent action against a child, are yelling for the man to stop hurting the boy. The language the man in the red hoodie is using tells me he is probably an off-duty Police officer or ex-police. He most likely did this because the boy was filming the arrest and this is something Police do not want as it exposes their often-unlawful actions, which they believe is unjust given that they put their “lives at risk’ for public safety.
The hoodie man had absolutely no right to do this and needs to be investigated. The boy was in no way threatening the officer and, in the video, you can see the boy stepped back when asked to do so by the arresting officer. All he was asking in the video is for the officer to stop hurting his dad.
As he took two steps forward again and pleaded with the officer to stop hurting his dad, the man in the red hoodie tackled the boy from behind and threw him to the ground. There are plenty of other bystanders telling the man to stop hurting the child. If the man was an off-duty officer he still should have identified himself as one. You can hear his voice shaking as he is trying to calm the boy down. Probably realising he has gone too far, and because he is being heavily criticised by bystanders, he lets the boy get up but is still trying to block him from filming.
If the hoodie man attempts to justify his actions by saying he thought the boy was going to attack the officer, this is not warranted, as the boy is clearly holding his phone and just pleading with the officers. He is not using threatening language that would suggest he is about to attack the officers. He was not interfering with the arrest and has a right to film his dad getting arrested. He was not interfering with the arrest in any way.
His actions as a bystander, but particularly as an off-duty officer are unjustifiable as there is no evidence in the video that the boy was threatening the officers in any way; he was simply pleading for them to stop hurting his dad. As the boy and bystanders are asking the arresting officer to stop hurting the dad, the arresting officer is able to easily flip the dad over onto his back. This makes me think he may have sustained a head injury and needed medical attention.
Moments later in the video, the dad is more awake and is still seen passively resisting arrest but only by refusing to place his hands in a position where they can be handcuffed; the rest of his body is calm.
Then you can see there are a 3rd and a 4th male officer helping the first arresting officer place the dad’s hands behind his back. The dad now has 4 officers on him. The officers keep saying, “Stop resisting arrest and place your other hand behind your back”, to which you can hear the dad reply, “I can’t”, because it is clear his other arm is underneath him and now there are 4 officers pinning him down.
At 2.28 in the video when the officers already have both his hands behind his back, the 3rd (bald) officer slams the dad’s head to the ground again and you can hear it hit the ground and the dad saying ouch, with bystanders pleading with the officers not to be so rough because there is a child watching. This is absolutely unacceptable!
He was already in handcuffs, not resisting arrest and was seriously assaulted by this officer which could have resulted in injury or death because his temple hit the concrete.
Did they offer the dad medical assistance after the arrest? His head hit the ground twice and he will most likely have a concussion and need to be monitored. Although ACC refuses support after an arrest sometimes, this video is evidence that the arrest, or at least the assault by police, was unlawful.
In summary, the first male arresting officer and then the 2nd male assisting officer (bald one) both used unreasonable, excessive force against someone who was passively resisting (not actively) with his arms only.
From the beginning, he was on the ground already on his knees and not trying to get up, not trying to fight, was not threatening the officers in any way.
They had numerous other, more reasonable tactical options to use to affect the arrest. One of the options is to wait for backup if the man is not trying to harm anyone or escape. This arrest and video evidence warrants an immediate IPCA complaint.
The video is strong evidence of police misconduct. The use of force regulations state that the force must be reasonable. With someone only passively resisting arrest, the level of force the officers chose to use was excessive and life-threatening.
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