FAIRFIELD, Calif. — A video of a woman being knocked unconscious by a Fairfield police officer has been making its way across social media, and the department is responding.
The Fairfield Police Department said that the video is from a 911 call from Oct. 20, 2020, for a family fight with a man threatening people with a knife. The video shows Fairfield police officers responding then arresting some women in a neighborhood. At one point in the video, one of the women gets thrown to the ground by an officer, which is when she was left unconscious.
In a press release, Fairfield police said "when that man was detained, three women obstructed and resisted police officers." The department said the video going around on Twitter only shows "a segment of the situation" and that the woman who they hurt was interfering with the arrest of someone else.
Bodycam footage released appears to show the daughter of the woman was trying to talk to someone in the back of a patrol car when officers told her to back up to the sidewalk. When the daughter did not do that, the mother stepped in. When neither of them went back to the sidewalk, officers started trying to put handcuffs on both of them.
The mother, who was knocked unconscious, resisted putting on handcuffs, according to the Fairfield Police Department. The officer "took her to the ground" when this happened and she hit her head on the pavement. She lost consciousness for about two minutes, according to the video.
Paramedics arrived to help the woman after pleas from bystanders to call an ambulance, according to the video. She was taken to the hospital after she regained consciousness.
Fairfield police said that there was no formal complaint filed with the department about the incident.
Fairfield Change, a community activist group that advocates for social change, wants answers from the Fairfield Police Department.
"The actions in this video from the police were disgusting, to say the least, but this is something that is common from the Fairfield Police Department. FFPD has a history of violence against the community and it is rare that they are held accountable for their actions," the organization said in a statement.
They also wonder what the reasoning for using "such violent force" against someone who is unarmed.
"The only way to ensure our safety is to limit interaction with the police and reduce their size, funding, and power," the statement read. "We hope others will see and join us in fighting for alternatives which help our community thrive rather than have us policed and become victims of violence at the hands of the police."
To watch the bodycam footage from the Fairfield Police Department, click HERE.
