EDITOR’S NOTE: These videos of police body camera footage were released to local media outlets by Columbus Police Department and contain profane language and some rear nudity. The Dispatch has not edited or altered them, nor has it identified by name the officers or arrestee involved in the incident.
Three Columbus police officers who were filmed slamming a civilian to the ground in an attempt to subdue and arrest him for indecent exposure did not violate department policy and will not face disciplinary action, the city council decided during the closed session of a special-call meeting Thursday.
A video of the incident, which a witness shot from several feet away and which appears to depict the officers lifting the man off his feet and then slamming him to the ground, began circulating social media on Sunday.
Police Chief Fred Shelton told The Dispatch earlier this week that he was aware of the video and was investigating it. He said the three officers were responding to an indecent exposure charge in North Columbus Sunday when the incident occurred.
On Thursday, Columbus Police Department released footage from all three officers’ body cameras, which they had activated during the incident. The footage, which contains nudity and graphic language, shows the officers attempting to talk to the man for several minutes before grabbing him and attempting to put handcuffs on him. In footage from one of the cameras, it is clear the man manages to break out of the handcuffs before the officers can close and lock them just before the officers lift him and slam him to the ground.
Shelton said the officers followed CPD’s policy on use of force, starting first with verbal commands and moving on to use of physical force when the man did not comply. He noted that neither the officers nor the man they arrested used any weapons during their interaction.
At a meeting of the CPD Overview Committee on Wednesday, Shelton said there are times when officers must use force to subdue a suspect.
“When police officers are arresting people, we’ve got to use force, to a certain degree,” he said. “We have to use force, and it doesn’t always look good.”
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