Seattle police say they've ordered a review of an incident during a jaywalking stop in which an officer punched a 17-year-old girl who shoved him.
Videotape of the Monday altercation was prominently featured on Seattle television news broadcasts and on Internet Web Sites, The Seattle Times reported.
In the video, Officer Ian P. Walsh can be seen punching the girl in the face as she tries to intervene in the arrest of a 19-year-old friend. Police arrested both girls, who reportedly have criminal records, the newspaper said Tuesday.
Seattle police officials have expressed concern about Walsh's conduct but say the department will
"withhold judgment" pending an internal investigation. Walsh, who joined the department in 2006, is on temporary duty with the department's training unit during the review, the
Times reported.
The president of the police union representing Seattle officers made his position clear.
"(Walsh) did nothing wrong," Rich O'Neill said. "If anything, I think he maybe waited a little too long to engage in force because I think he was trying to defuse the situation and calm people down and it was obvious from the audio anyway of the two individuals that they were not
going to be calmed down.
"They were not going to comply in any way."