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(Update)
A YouTube video of two Hamilton police officers making an arrest has gone viral. Hundreds of thousands of people have now watched it and it’s one of the top stories on the file sharing site Reddit as well. But there’s a big difference between this video and others that suddenly catch fire on the web. Virtually all the feedback is in favour of the officers.
Sunday morning, police went into this Source store on Mohawk Road at Upper Gage. They approached a 21-year old Hamilton woman who had just been hired by The Source for the holiday season. They, asked her name, asked her to step outside, and while they were talking, she tried to run away. That’s when the arrest became a struggle and one of the Source employees started filming.
The woman was wanted for a domestic incident.
“Ma’am, if she’s going to fight with police.”
Several online commenters note that she stops to fix her hair while Cst. Mark Morelli tries to manage concerned bystanders.
The cameraman tries to stick up for her: “She’s only a weak girl. You can’t do that man.” Officer: I’ll explain it to you in a sec.”
But they clearly know each other: “Call Jerry! Call Jerry on my phone.”
After she’s in the cruiser, Cst. Morelli tries to explain: “No matter what it may seem to you, we have soft hand techniques ma’am. I didn’t punch her, right? I didn’t throw her to the ground. I’m not going to get into a long wrestling match. The longer she fights, the more likely it is one of us is going to get hurt. And while it may appear to be very rough to you, I apologize that you had to see that, but I have the lawful authority to arrest her, I am obligated to arrest her.”
Chief Glenn de Caire says Hamilton police can’t keep up with the thousands of comments streaming in from as far away as China and Australia: “I’m very proud. very proud. We’ve not received one negative piece of commentary from anyone around of the world. People are supportive of the communication, the effort, the restraint, the continued explanations. Above and beyond the call of duty. Lets be abundantly clear. Our officers are not required to explain themselves to anybody in the street.
You can see in the video, the level of exhaustion that strikes the officer because of that. It’s a 6 to 7 minute confrontation. Those are physically draining.
Online vitriol has been reserved for the cameraman.
“Wanna talk inside man? No, no. Well, I’m cold. Well you chose to come outside Sir and you want to film me, that’s fine. I’m not put off by your effort to put me in a bad light. I’m used to being made out to be the bad guy.
“I hope everybody sees this.”
More than a quarter million people had seen that, last I checked. And it’s hard to find anyone critical of police. Cst. Mark Morelli is the son of Councillor and Police Board Chair Bernie Morelli, who told me he is very proud. Hamilton police say Cst. Morelli will go on their Facebook site to chat with people about the incident. The ones who are not proud of this video are management at The Source. I’m told they’re horrified that an employee filmed outside the store, while acting unprofessionally, and then posted it online. He had not yet been fired when I spoke with a Store Manager. But he was in a lot of trouble.
