LANSING, Mich. — After criticizing a Lansing Police officer who was involved in the controversial arrest of a teenage girl, the NAACP is sitting down with people in the community where the incident happened.
The organization met with the Potter Walsh neighborhood.
The NAACP said the topic of this meeting, which took place at the "Faith Fellowship Baptist Church," was police and youth.
The president of the Lansing branch said he wants to, "explore avenues for policing support" in this area.
The NAACP called this use of force by Officer Lindsey Howley "rushed" and said it showed, "no tolerance or patience for resistance" when it released a statement the day after the arrest.
The statement said it was, "unfortunate" that Howley felt punching the 16-year-old girl in the leg was the appropriate action to take to get her into the back of the police car.
However, Lansing Police Chief Mike Yankowski said Howley followed her training by using a punch to the thigh's common peroneal nerve to get the girl to stop using her foot to block the door from being closed.
A former Eaton County Sheriff's officer agreed, saying that Howley used the least amount of force possible. He called it a, "better alternative" than pepper spray or a taser.
The girl's mother disagreed. She told News 10 her daughter shouldn't have been punched period.
Police arrested the girl and another teenage boy on warrants for escape from custody and probation violations.
Body-cam video shows the girl ran from police, spit and went limp when the officers were taking her back to the police car.
She's charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
The 14-year-old boy is charged with resisting and obstructing. He is also charged with malicious destruction of property for allegedly cracking a glass pane dividing the front and back seats of the patrol car.
The officers have been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is finished.
We'll continue to follow this story and keep you updated.
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