Earlier this month we reported on a beating of a female Chicago police officer by a suspect, and how the officer didn’t use her service weapon because of fear of how the public would react to a shooting of a black man, Chicago’s Top Cop: Police are ‘Second-Guessing Themselves’:
Chicago Superintendent Eddie Johnson said one of his officers didn’t defend herself against the man who beat her unconscious because of the backlash she and the department might receive:
“As I was at the hospital last night, visiting with her, she looked at me and said she thought she was gonna die, and she knew that she should shoot this guy, but she chose not to because she didn’t want her family or the department to go through the scrutiny the next day on national news,” Johnson said while attending a public ceremony honoring heroic officers and firefighters.“This officer could (have) lost her life last night,” the superintendent said. “She’s hospitalized right now, but she still has the spirit and the bravery that these officers and firefighters display every day — every day. We have to change the narrative of the law enforcement across this country.”
The police have now released the video. WGN-TV reports:
Chicago police have released video in the arrest of a man who was charged in the severe beating of a female officer.28-year-old Maywood man Parta Huff crashed his car into a Austin liquor store at the corner of Roosevelt Rd and Cicero Ave on the morning of October 5.Bystanders flagged down police. Witness told WGN News he appeared to be “out of it.”When the officers arrived they initially went to see if Huff needed help.Huff was combative and started to struggle with the officers.The video show the female officer grabbing one part of her handcuffs and placing the other on Huff’s wrists.The video shows Huff slam the officer onto the street.Authorities say the officer suffered a concussion, bone chips to her shoulder, a wrist and a neck injury and had to have bits of concrete pulled from her face.The incident drew wide attention when police Superintendent Eddie Johnson noted that the officer didn’t shoot huff because she was afraid of the potential scrutiny.
Here is a more complete video of the fight:
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