Actually, I suspect you mean it may be a crime. Before we delve into it any more, on the face of it the video doesn't look good - especially for public perception.
But, what we can't forget is that public perception (and the courts of public opinion) aren't what's important here, rather the actual law itself and the judiciary.
The police are not above the law, but many people conveniently ignore that there are aspects of law that provide constables with powers and/or certain rights.
One is the use of force: see my previous post here for the legal aspects. The important part here is what is classed as reasonable force, which the courts decide.
As I've said before, the elephant in the room is that the vast majority of offenders do not comply; they do not agree with policing by consent or wish to be detained.
This is why the law allows a reasonable use of force to assist in a legal arrest and, perhaps importantly in this case, to prevent further crime.
Again, as part of the above, the force must exceed that of the offender (what they are using or willing to use), otherwise nobody would be detained.
However, it has to be proportional. What many misinterpret is that what public perception may appear as excessive (for a number of reasons) may in fact not be.
I'll give you an example... back in the early 2000s, a pair of constables participated in a traffic stop; they asked for details such as their licence - as the law allows.
During this incident, it became aware to the driver that he had a bench warrant and was wanted for a serious offence under the SFO '56. He attempted to drive away.
One of the constables was dragged along and went under a wheel, causing injuries; the other constable leapt into the car and attempted to detain the driver.
The man resisted, assaulted the officer and leaned for the reverse, potentially suggesting he may wish to drive backwards over the officer prone on the floor.
There was a serious risk of injury, or death. So the officer in the vehicle punched the driver, repeatedly. In court, he was asked how many times he'd punched him
He said he didn't know - he wasn't concentrating on counting the blows. He was asked when he stopped punching the driver, to which he replied...
"When he stopped moving." Now, punching someone could be a criminal offence... punching someone until they're unconcsious could be seen as aggravated.
But in this case the courts deemed it reasonable based on the context, which in this case we neither know yet or people may be unwilling to contemplate.
If the force used by the officer is deemed unreasonable, he will be punished accordingly as per the law. If it is deemed reasonable, then so be it.
