http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYQWbfSNpIg

Was the cop in the wrong? Obviously the girls were VERY much "resisting arrest." And the punch came early in the footage, so we don't know what happened before the film rolls, but it looks like an assault every time you see a man punch a woman. Was a sock in the nose called for? Was the girl in pink a threat? Any cop dealing with two (or more with a hostile crowd) resisting people would feel threatened. What say you?

Maybe this is going to be the unpopular opinion, but girl #1 was resisting arrest, and 'girl in pink' was helping her do so by interfering, even though her friends were trying to prevent her from getting in the middle. I don't really know what other options the cop had, as it seems things had escalated to the point where HE was almost getting assaulted. It's my tendency to feel really icky about any man hitting a woman under ANY circumstance, but I have to relent a little when I consider the reality of this situation.

I saw this footage on the news, and the cop seemed fairly appropriate and polite (saying please, mam, sir, etc.) until the girl got in his face and he punched her. And even though he hit her, there wasn't a mark on her and no blood so it couldn't have been a very hard blow. He only hit her once and only hard enough to subdue her, it wasn't an all out assault and the cop never lost control of himself. If this girl had stayed out of a situation that was none of her concern and let the cop do his job, she wouldn't have been punched.

Here's another question: In this moment, what SHOULD he have done? If he didn't hit her, what could he have done to get control of this situation? This isn't a domestic situation, this is somebody interfering with law enforcement, and doing so with some determination.

mace if he good get it out fast enough

My philosophy is this, if a woman steps up like a man she'll get treated like a man.

However, I don't see where an overhand right to the face is a reasonable way to gain control of a suspect, male or female. I don't dispute his right or need to do his job, I question the method he used. That didn't look like a professional doing a job to me it looked like a bouncer kicking someone's ass. I'll probably get flamed for this but, whatever, his attempts at a joint lock were also less than proficient.

As somebody who has family in law enforcement I would say that what that officer did was very unprofessional, no matter if it was a man or a woman. A punch in the face is never the answer. If he was fighting a suspect in a life or death situation it would be one thing, but thats not what I saw in the video.

He would have been right to use a non lethal weapon to defend himself, like pepper spray or a tactical baton. It also would have been a more effective solution to get the situation under control. A punch only leads to more fighting and a lot of bad press.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs080.ash2/37339_1461186740316_1552870553_31137486_4094726_n.jpg Seems pretty by the book to me. He tried very hard to deescalate following that strike and from what I could see was trying very much not hurt that girl who was doing her best to be a PITA. As far as I'm concerned she was lucky to not have been taken down to the ground with a knee in her back.

LOL.
Between the tv and the vid I've seen this a couple of times now.
Of note; no one else tried to interfere with the officer, after the confrontation the woman in pink did not try that stunt again, and I hope the officer learned something.
With a crowd around that could have easily escalated out of control.

As for the man hitting on a women thing....well if a female is foolish enough to start a toe to toe deal, she probably is going to get the worse end of the bargain.
And if male or female wants to face off physically with the police I can guarantee it's going to be a no win proposition.
In the given situation back up was probably already on the way.

This was an awful situation for the policeman. You would think that when an officer is trying to arrest someone for whatever reason that the people around would stay out of the matter or help him....not give him more problems. That girl in pink got what she deserved. She should have gotten no where near the officer trying to do his job. You would think that handcuffing a woman would have been a little less stressful and tiresome. Were the girls drunk or something? He should have arrested both of them.

I kinda feel sorry for the cop...he was REALLY trying to keep his cool & defuse this esculating situation, but being alone, I think that he did the best that he could to remain calm & control this situation. I didn't see any anger or malace when he punched the woman. It was more a matter of 'just settle down & mind you own business & get out of my way so I can do my job' kinda thing. If he punched her out of anger or malace, she would have hit the ground & surley had a broken nose or something. I think that he showed GREAT restraint under the circumstances. The people should have stood down & not interfered.

 Quote: Lauren Jeffery

As somebody who has family in law enforcement I would say that what that officer did was very unprofessional, no matter if it was a man or a woman.

As someone that is in law enforcement, I'd hope you'd ask your family member just how unprofessional it was.

DFrost