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Family says officer used excessive force during woman's arrest; IMPD says officer followed protocol

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INDIANAPOLIS -- The family of a woman caught on video in a struggle with an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer says excessive force was used during her arrest, but police say the officer appeared to have done his job appropriately.

Police say they were responding to a disturbance in the neighborhood on Saturday.

The woman’s sister, Makia Hall, says she started recording after things escalated on Saturday.

“She was trying to get them off of her,’ said Makia Hall. “I mean, he was so aggressive with her.”

You can watch that video clip below. Faces have been blurred to protect the identities of the officer and the woman arrested. 

 

 

 

The clip starts with an officer pushing a woman to the ground and then trying to restrain her as she resists.

The woman then tries to get up and an officer appears to strike her in the back of the head. The second clip shows the officer – now joined by another officer – holding the woman’s head down while they handcuff her.

Hall says she believes police used excessive force on her sister.

 “I want their badges. They don’t need to serve for us no more,” said Hall. “Her kids probably are going to need counseling from this, you know,” said Hall. “They’ve seen their mom get beat by the police.”

RTV6 reached out to IMPD for an explanation of what is being shown in the video.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department PIO Michael Hewitt responded in an email saying that the disturbance they were responding to was “an example of the very types of disturbances that have led to shootings and homicides in our city.”

He also said that “given what we know, it appears the officers responded appropriately.”

“We’re not gonna stop,” said Hall. “We’re getting an attorney and all of that. Even if it takes every last penny we’ve got. It’s going to get solved.”

Sources for Call 6 Investigates say there’s more to the story than what the video shows. Those sources say the officer involved radioed in that he had a resistor while he had the woman on the ground. They also say that the woman bit one of the officers as they were trying to handcuff her and tried to get up and run.

An internal investigation called a "blue team report' is completed after every use of force incident involving an officer to make sure that force is justified under departmental policy.

If department policy is believed to be broken, an internal affairs investigation is then opened on the incident. 

Call 6 sources say that report was completed and the use of force was found to be within policy. No internal affairs investigation was ever opened. 

That woman is charged with resisting law enforcement and battery against an officer.

If you believe you’ve been wronged by an officer, you can file a complaint with the Independent Citizen Police Complaint Board.

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