What's your opinion?

To the first part of the quote, indeed (!!).

Lets for a moment assume the girl truly and illegally was involved in an auto theft (and this is courtesey, by constitution and law in any normal democracy we would not have to), the cop in question wont pass the slightest civil rights focussed sructiny, I would not want to have my daughter pass through that. Never.

You simply do not do that to a 15 yrs old girl. If you do, you are a criminal and have to become prosecuted (and let the judge then decide whether you had too much strain in you job as an excuse).

I don´t know whether you remember what you did when you were around that age, but when my sergeant once (w/o any factual reason, because I really had not done anything) reprimanded and factually punished me for an issue, after my complaint, told me: "Well, maybe I was wrong in this case, but *you* view this punishment for one of the other cases where I did not see you!". I could easily relate to that one, factually.

When I was 15, I had already robbed and driven (that was the actual motive) 5 or 6 cars, had stayed in the women quaqrters of my mil school overnight (and later got caught in a cupboard and expelled), had driven motorbikes w/o insurance etc., all what a teenager does sometimes to impress (the friends, the parents or himself).

I did this, my sons(daughters) did it.

The point is to make them learn (as my parents, cops and the judge did various times where I was concerned, I worked a total of 200 hours in hospital kitchens on weekends when I was between 14 and 16, leanred a lot and after 18/19 cannot recall having had any form of antisocial conduct...) that there are consequences for what you do, and you will have to bear them. Fine. Happened to me, have been through that with my kids.

But no assault on my daughter.

Rattler

P.S.: (on 2.: After some incididents in Catalunya now these cameras in Spain are obligatory in all state, national and regional police stations, and I think that is ok). R.

Videos like this never tell the complete story. It looks like the officier used excessive force (in fact, actually, closing the door would have been a good reaction as mentioned above); it looks like the girl is a punk who better straighten out her attitude. Not knowing what was done or said in the previous 30-60 minutes I won't judge either of them beyond this. 

Shame on the judge for releasing this video (the defense lawyer asked it not be released.)  This will lead other arrestees to kick their shoes at other officiers.  A stereotyped view of the King county--or perhaps the US--justice system is on the web for all to see. Let's face it, "normal" situations don't make the YouTube cut!  Arrestees may or may not be guilty, but they certainly aren't 'victims' of a police state who need to lash out at the authority figure saddled with processing them.

Well, FACman, I hadn't even thought of the 'shoe' aspect of it!  My first thought while watching it was I'd like to hear the audio; she appears to be saying something right before she kicks off her shoe.  "I'm going to kill you" would certainly mitigate the officer's reaction in my mind.  Let alone her actions/words in the previous time in custody.

The officer appears to over-react, as I said.  Perhaps the taxpayers of King County will find themselves supporting an officer with the 'victim mentality' if he goes on disabiltiy for a shin bruise. 

With all due respect, I beg to object: It is not important at all (mabe as an attenuance in front of court) what was said or done in the minutes before:

A police officer, by definition, is executive and has no juridical powers whatosever, hence - apart from excerting executive violence to make detainees comlply - has not to judge or to react ot stuff that is no threat to executive procedures.

Dont like what the girl said? Put it into the dossier for the judge to review.

Kicked a shoe in your direction? Lets assume for a moment that this rarely could be considered as a lethal or even physically endangering threat, put it into the dossier, close the door, keep the shoe. Again, for a judge to review and assess.

Punishment is for juridical power, not for exectuive in my book, stoffel is right on track here: If we flinch at the "minor" excursions from exctuive conduct, we soon will see major ones.

Let me make it clear that I am strictily talking about the vid in question, had she kicked him from short distance and hit his shinbone a slap to get her into line might be something I as parent would make clear to my daugther as "logical" reflective consequence to her actions and the pain induced and as a lesson to be learned for the future. I wont press charges against the officer (I know some of my friends disagree on that point) in thhis case. In the vid case I would, as it is completely disconnected from anything reflective and simply shows a misunderstaning of what your job description means.

My 2c,

Rattler

the front page of the local Seattle paper today says that the Federal Government is investigating to see if the teen's civil rights were violated. 
the officer is counter-suing the teen.