TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama police chief said Wednesday that he is “disgusted” by a video recording showing an officer threatening and cursing a woman during a traffic stop that turned violent.
Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steve Anderson commented during a news conference in which he released police bodycam video of the arrest of Jhasmynn Sheppard, 22. The way officers treated the woman was “not what we teach,” he said.
Both an officer who initially stopped the woman and another officer who arrived as a backup have been placed on desk duty and face disciplinary procedures, Anderson said. He didn’t release the full name of either man.
Sheppard was suspected of leaving the scene of a car accident Friday. The video shows an officer trying to handcuff her less than 10 seconds after requesting her driver’s license. Another officer arrives moments later.
“Sir, please don’t do me like this,” the woman is heard saying early in the confrontation. She struggled as an officer tried to handcuff her, and both wound up on the pavement. Video shot by bystanders showed an officer hitting the woman with a collapsible baton.
The video released by Anderson shows an officer cursing the woman, threatening to kick out her teeth and saying he could have shot her. The initial physical confrontation between the officer and the woman appeared justified, the chief said, but the curses and threats were out of bounds.
Anderson said he was “disgusted” and “very disappointed” by the video, which he said shows officers violated department training throughout the encounter.
One officer’s account of the arrest was previously detailed in court documents filed Tuesday.
The officer said the woman was making “furtive” movements and incoherent statements and then resisted arrest. The officer said the woman took his baton, but on video a man is heard claiming she grabbed his genitals.
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