BODY CAM VIDEO EXONERATES POLICE

Count Chattanooga as another city in which police body camera footage has exonerated an officer after cell phone video had alleged his rough treatment of a 14-year-old girl.

The girl’s mother said in a Facebook post, written along with the uploaded video, that her daughter had to go to a children’s hospital after the incident earlier this week because of injuries to her hands caused by handcuffs.

To set the record straight, Chattanooga police released the body cam footage in its entirety, noting that the Facebook video, which had been viewed more than 100,000 times, had portrayed only a part of the story.

The incident occurred when the girl “who was seated behind the wheel of a running vehicle stopped in a handicap zone” in a “heavily trafficked area of town” initially refused to turn the car off and leave it after being ordered to do so by police. She did not have a drivers license.

Ultimately, an officer had to remove her from the car. She was charged with resisting stop, frisk, halt, according to a news release.

“The use of force used by the officer in this situation is in compliance with the Chattanooga Police Department’s Use of Force policy and training,” Chattanooga police Chief David Roddy said in a statement. “Force used by officers can be controversial, but it is also needed in certain situations when safety of the individuals involved and the public at-large are at stake.”

And because of the body came footage, anyone concerned can see why what was done was done.