Officer on administrative duty after video shows him slamming man's head during arrest

An officer was caught on camera slamming a man's head against plexiglass and now the community is demanding answers.

WILMINGTON, Del. - An officer has been placed on administrative duty after video circulating on social media showed him repeatedly slamming a man’s head during an arrest.

"The police department is really hurting Black folks," said President of the Delaware NAACP Richard Smith.

He is outraged seeing surveillance video showing a Wilmington police officer arresting a man. The video is being shared across social media. The NAACP calls it excessive use of force by police.

"This is unacceptable. The police department don’t train like that. This tells me that something is wrong with the police department," said Smith.

The video shows a man who police say is 44-year-old Dwayne Brown appearing to make a purchase inside 3 C’s Food Mart in Southbridge. An officer approaches and takes him by the right wrist while turning him to face the counter as if to arrest him. They appear to exchange words and in seconds you see the officer repeatedly slam Brown’s head against the plexiglass.

DELAWARE HEADLINES:

"What went wrong? He should have talked to the young man because the young man wasn’t fighting him back and tell him you’re under arrest, put handcuffs on and took him out the door and arrest him," said Smith.

Wilmington police say Brown had been harassing employees at a nearby day care. A patrol officer responded that morning of Sept. 21 and saw Brown go into the food mart not far away and went in to take him into custody. Brown was charged with resisting arrest and police say had violated a no-contact order.

"You didn’t see any de-escalation. You see from zero to 100 with nothing in between. And regardless of what that gentleman may or may not have done you still need to explain to him why and talk to him," said Ron Handy with the Bear Delaware branch of the NAACP and we see none of that."

Wilmington Police say when an officer uses force an internal review is conducted. The officer in the video is on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation. Brown is out on bail.