Police in Georgia have released officer bodycam footage of an incident that led to the forcible restraint of a 10-year-old boy during the arrest of his father.
They released the footage after a video of the incident, filmed by an onlooker, went viral on social media. The video sparked a backlash against officers of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD). The department is conducting an internal affairs investigation, reports Newsweek.
This is the bodycamera footage:
In a statement, the ACCPD said they arrested Jawoski Collins, 43, at his home in Athens. He is suspected of aggravated assault and false imprisonment of Cynthia Shapriest Watkins, 26.
The Statement reads:
As the suspect was being placed in the back of the patrol car, the video clearly shows the
child run pass family members and again ran towards our officer and lunged at one of the officers.
Our officer caught the child in mid-air and the momentum of the child launching himself caused
the both of them to land on the patrol car.
The child continued to be emotionally distraught, and continued with the outburst, at which time our officer placed him on the ground. While on the ground, the officer continued to attempt to de-escalate the situation, assuring the child that he was not under arrest and that he would let him up if he would remain calm.
Once the officer believed the child had calmed down, he allowed him to return to his feet.
The child continued to be emotionally distraught but was not resistant towards our officers. Our officer began to console the child and helped him to understand what was happening to his father.
The child asked to speak with his father and was allowed to do so by our officers.
According to 11Alive, the boy’s name is Eric Collins. The child’s grandfather told 11Alive of the officers involved: “They should be fired because if they do one child like that, they’ll turn right back around and do somebody else’s child. They could do your child like that. Your child. Anybody else’s child like that if they can get away with it. I trust and pray that the police will take it under consideration what he did to that child and fire him.”
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