Comedian Ron White used to tell the story about the time when he was drunk and belligerent at a New York City bar and was told he would be “escorted” out of the establishment if he didn’t  leave voluntarily.

“I don’t know how many people it would have taken to throw me out, but I do know how many they used,” he drawled.

It’s a funny anecdote, but the use of force is no laughing matter today, especially when it involves police interaction with Black men. The list of such encounters that have gone tragically, even criminally, wrong is far too long and depressing to share in this space.

I am not inclined to be an apologist for bad cops, the kind of cops who make no distinction between necessary and excessive force. Nor am I inclined to dismiss incidents of cops crossing the line into brutality as the failure of “a few bad apples.” That attitude can be perceived as rationalizing brutality and minimizing a real problem in our country.

With great power comes great responsibility. We entrust police with the power of life and death and should expect that those imbued with that power be held to a very high standard.

So, when incidents emerge that call into question a police officer’s conduct in confrontations with citizens, a reasonable amount of scrutiny should be applied.

So when a Facebook video emerged showing Columbus Police Department officers body slamming a Black man to the pavement during a recent arrest, there was cause for concern and questions.

The Facebook video, shot at a distance, was disturbing, so during Wednesday’s meeting of the CPD Overview Committee, a committee made up of one civilian from each ward who meet with CPD officials as-needed to discuss police business, that video dominated the discussions.

Text accompanying the video said the man was mentally disturbed, but as of yet that has not been verified.

Overview committee members did not reach a consensus about the officers conduct, but committee chairman Steven James said he felt the officers may have gone too far.

“Let’s just be honest,” James said. “I wouldn’t want to be subdued like that. I don’t think anyone here would want to be subdued like that …I think that was a bit excessive. When you’ve got three officers and one individual, surely.”

Wednesday evening, the CPD released body camera video that, in my mind, tells a much different and more complete story of what happened.

Unlike the Facebook video, the body cam footage showed the entire encounter and was, for me, convincing.

A few observations:

First, the body cam footage from this incident is an example of its importance. It is something that can indict or incriminate an officer and therefore an important element in establishing the truth.

Second, it only reinforced the challenges police officers can face. It was clear to me that the person was out of control and potentially a danger to himself or the people in the neighborhood. Ideally, these confrontations can end peacefully with neither the cops or the suspect being harmed. But when that’s not the case, what is an officer supposed to do? They can’t just walk away.

As I watched the video, I saw police officers acting with restraint even when the man approached them aggressively shouting obscenities. Nobody went for their gun or taser. Instead, they tried to subdue him with handcuffs. It was only when the man broke loose that he was slammed to the ground. In my view, it was the subject who caused that outcome, not the officers. I asked myself, “What else could they have done?” and didn’t find an answer for that question. Was a lot of force used? Without question. Was it excessive? The answer to that question is no.

Finally, we must remember that what we see on social media may not always tell the true story.

From what I saw, the police were justified in their actions.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].