SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 6, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown on Wednesday responded to a YouTube video that shows an SLPD officer punching a woman during an arrest.
“I’m really concerned that we didn’t know about this earlier,” said Brown, who called the woman’s beating “abhorrent.”
The video was posted Tuesday, but shot on Oct. 10, 2014 by a bodycam worn by the officer involved in the assault.
It shows two officers arrive at a residence after a call regarding public intoxication. The suspect was standing outside, in the driveway.
The 8-minute, unedited video shows the woman, who initially seemed cooperative spitting in the face of one officer, who appears to hit her in the face while forcing her to the ground.
The woman’s 9-year-old daughter, who was present, first cries quietly for her “mommy,” then wails, then shrieks in alarm.
The woman can be heard sobbing and stating she is unable to breathe. When she tries to rise, the officer appears to kick her, and addresses her using insulting and vulgar language.
“The action you saw was abhorrent,” Brown told reporters on Wednesday. “It was not what we would teach; it’s not our culture.
“It did occur. That is our video tape — we don’t back away from that. And I promise that we will take appropriate actions to look into this situation and to investigate it through our Internal Affairs process.”
The video, including violent images and potentially offensive language, can be viewed on the player above.
