Police in the U.S. aren’t exactly renowned for their restraint when it comes to dealing with troublemakers and this could be just another fine example of this.
Texas school officials are currently investigating footage which apparently shows a policeman body-slam a 12-year-old girl to the ground.
Janissa Valez’s classmates are heard laughing and shouting in the background as she’s thrown to the floor by a policeman, who then handcuffs her and leads her away.
Speaking to local media in San Antonio, she said that children we crowding around her as they were expecting her to have a fight with another girl.
The incident happened last month, but the footage went viral after it was posted on a local blog. The officer has now been placed on leave and is yet to comment on the incident.
A spokeswoman for the San Antonio Independent School District, Leslie Price, described the video as ‘alarming’ and stressed that excessive force would not be tolerated.
Janissa’s mother, Gloria, told News4SA.com:
You could just hear where she hits the ground. And it’s nothing but concrete, cement. I talked to the officer. He did what he had to do at the moment – those were his words.
We can categorically say that he definitely didn’t have to resort to this ‘in the moment’.
