Jail and prison expert Michele Deitch reviewed both videos and called the force unnecessary.
“I was very disturbed by it,” Deitch said. “What I was watching was out and out abuse.”
Deitch runs the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. The policy resource center focuses on the safe and humane treatment of people in custody.
“This was not a justified use of force,” Deitch said. “There are times when force is justified and explainable, neither of these cases is one of those.”
In the video involving the incarcerated woman, Deitch said there is no indication that she is doing anything to provoke the incident. She added that using force, especially towards an inmate’s head, is uncalled for against handcuffed inmates since they generally pose no threat to detention officers.