CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Police Chief Opie Smith is urging residents not to rush to judgement in connection with an arrest on the city’s West Side last week that’s resulted in an internal investigation after a “use of force” complaint was filed by the woman who was arrested.
Smith released the dash-cam video Tuesday evening from the arrest near the Family Dollar Store on Virginia Street West. It shows a female officer trying to restrain the suspect. The woman had not yet been put in handcuffs although it seems to show the initial officer reaching for those.
The officer can be heard requesting back-up in a recording from Kanawha County Metro 911. Responding officers were told the officer on the scene was in an active fight. The video shows a second officer arriving followed by punches being thrown to subdue the suspect.
Smith said the back-up officer was responding to an active scene.
“He has limited information coming into something like that. His perception was…you heard it on the radio that the officer needed assistance,” Smith told reporters Tuesday.
Smith said a video taken by a resident and posted on Facebook last week and the dash-cam video show different views of the same incident.
“I just think people should just take a step back. I understand the first video, it had a different angle but there was another angle,” Smith said. “People just need to take a step back and wait for the investigation.”
The two officers involved remain on paid administrative leave as the department’s professional standards division conducts an internal investigation. The woman arrested was not seriously injured. She’s been released on personal recognizance bond after being charged with animal cruelty and resisting arrest.
Smith, the office of Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin and the community group RESET announced plans last week to review and provide additional training for police officers in the area of arrest techniques and how to deal with people during a tense situation.
In these days of social media, there are more recordings of incidents involving police. Smith said that shouldn’t impact how officers do their jobs.
“I don’t want an officer to be put in a situation and afraid to react due to someone videoing them. You can video me all day and I’m going to do the same thing whether you put a camera in my face or you don’t,” Smith said.