In this footage, officers from the Prescott Valley Police Department in Arizona play "Simon Says" with a compliant arrestee on his knees. He follows all their pointless orders to the letter, but they set a dog on him anyway. The police department says the dog was ordered to attack him because he did not comply without "hesitation."
The video shows Saldivar starting to stand up when ordered by an officer when the Belgian Malinois runs over and grabs him. Saldivar immediately screams in agony, yelling "Please stop the dog!" After nearly a minute, the dog is called off. As officers handcuff Saldivar and search him, the suspect said he planned to sue and that officers had already shot him; something that happened during the police chase. Bami Adelayo, Saldivar's attorney, said anyone watching the video would see there was no hesitation from his client. There was no reason for him to be "mauled."
"In light of George Floyd and everything, they thought 'We need to change the narrative,'" Adelayo said. "But the video is what it is. It doesn't lie."
That it was all captured on bodycam is a reminder that the police reaction to bodycams is not to stop their misconduct, but to justify the misconduct as policy.
That said, the bodycammed officer tries to cover his camera. He knows that what's going on might result in career issues when the footage gets out.
To paraphrase Dan Hodges's remark on Sandy Hook and gun control: In retrospect George Floyd marked the end of the US police control debate. Once America decided killing him was bearable, it was over.
