TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A video that depicts a Tallahassee police officer forcefully taking down a suspect on Railroad Avenue and St. Francis Street Friday has been making its rounds on social media.
The video depicts the officer flipping the suspect upside down while placing him under arrest.
Warning: this video may be graphic to some
@CNN these cops in Tallahassee are nuts. Trying to hurt people. pic.twitter.com/XpspOgIhh0
— BrvTrvlr (@brvtrvlr) March 26, 2022
According to Heather Merritt, a spokesperson for the Tallahassee Police Department, officers were speaking with the man as a result of a hit and run traffic crash, which he is a suspect in.
“We had an incident that we were made aware of late this weekend where our officers responded to a hit and run and once they got on the scene witnesses on scene observed the suspect from the hit and run on foot, our officers went and made contact with that suspect," Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said. "He was positively identified by multiple witnesses and once they went to place him under arrest for the hit and run, he resisted and was taken to the ground and transported to the Leon County Jail after that with no injuries.”
The department confirmed to ABC 27 that the suspect had a knife during the arrest. The knife can be seen in the body cam footage below:
The language in this video may be offensive to some
The following statement was also released by the Tallahassee Police Department.
"The Tallahassee Police Department is aware of a video circulating on social media. The incident has been turned over to our internal affairs division for further review."
The officer involved in the incident has been placed on paid administrative leave.
According to the Tallahassee Police Department General Order, "When officers are engaged in any response to resistance encounter, they are responsible for making the preservation of human life their first priority and using only the amount of force-objectively reasonable to effectively bring the incident under control."
Below is the full Tallahassee Police Department Use of Force Policy:
TPD Use of Force Policy by WTXL ABC27 on Scribd
