Police Officer Fired in Shreveport Due to Violence Caught on Video

Is this police abuse? You tell me.

From KTBS.com comes news that the officer was fired: http://www.ktbs.com/news/Polic…

A Shreveport police officer has been fired after an incident in which a female prisoner taken into custody on suspicion of DWI wound up lying on a floor at the police station in a pool of blood.

If you watch the video, you’ll notice that there’s a gap:

Much of what happened was recorded on a videotape – but there is a gap of undetermined length. During that time, the woman wound up injured. She said she was beaten up; the officer said she fell.

It’s rather convenient that the injury happened while the video was off.

Seconds later, the tape is turned off as the officer apparently prepares to take her and book her. It is not known what happened while the tape was off, but when it was turned back on Garbarino was lying on the floor on her side in a pool of blood.

Even though the woman wasn’t cooperative (and it’s probably a good idea to be cooperative under similar circumstances should you face them), the officer was fired later:

Willis was fired earlier this month for what officials said was his handling of the incident. No criminal charges were filed accusing him of injuring the woman.

And how should the officer have handled the situation:

“The whole situation could have been avoided if the officer had followed procedure,” Miciotto said, referring to when an uncooperative person should be taken to jail.

The officer should have been fired anyway for turning off the video. There’s no way he can defend himself, while there’s no way to tell if he beat the woman up. We can guess all we want, but the video’s not there.

Originally posted here: http://rjones2818.blogspot.com…