York officer who punched suspect followed policy, but improvements planned: Commissioner

A video on social media that showed a York City Police officer hitting a suspect while struggling to arrest him was within policy, but the department will make improvements through training, Commissioner Michael Muldrow said this week.

Muldrow spoke about the internal investigation into use of force during the arrest of Anthony Balbi-Reyes in a more than 13-minute video posted on the department's Facebook page.

Police have charged Balbi-Reyes, 19, with aggravated assault on a police officer, burglary, terroristic threats, simple assault and resisting arrest.

He was released on $15,000 bail, according to court records.

Police allege suspect hit officer before force was used

Two officers responded to a call on June 16 about a burglary and assault on a woman in the 100 block of West Maple Street. They spoke with a witness and the victim, who was visibly injured. They helped to get her care and tracked down the suspect.

Balbi-Reyes made an admission to officers that further corroborated the victim's statement, Muldrow said. When police tried to take him into custody, the suspect punched an officer in the face and tried to get away. It was shown on the video of the body cameras that officers wear.

"Faced with a sudden, violent conflict, officers had seconds to react," Muldrow said. "They immediately grabbed the actor, attempting to control him, at which time he continued to fight and resist the officers' attempts, ignoring all verbal commands in the process."

One of the officers punched the suspect in the head with a closed fist multiple times until he stopped resisting, Muldrow said.

No further force was used after the suspect was taken into custody, and the officers spoke in a professional manner with him, Muldrow said. Police received an independent statement from a witness to the same effect.

Muldrow noted that closed-fisted strikes have been used as an acceptable control tactic for a long time.

Some have questioned why the officer didn't use pepper spray or Taze the suspect.

He explained that when officers are wrestling with a combative individual, it's not easy to let go. They risk getting hurt, having a piece of equipment taken and used against them or allowing the suspect get away.

Then, Muldrow said, there would be a different conversation with the public about why police allowed a man to beat a woman and get away.

"I can't in good faith sit here and persecute that officer for using techniques and tactics that he's been trained and permitted to use," Muldrow said. "It was a heightened situation, and he took action based on the factors, the circumstances and his prior training."

Improving training for the department

The police department didn't stop there, Muldrow said. It took its evaluation further, such as consulting with its trainers, assessing past experiences and incidents and looking at the optics.

"Rather than just planting my feet in the sand and defending our right to do things the way we've always done them, we've decided to focus on training, make some changes and educate our officers in safer ways to get the job done," Muldrow said.

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He said the department will focus on techniques that will be safer for the community as well as the officers.

Muldrow, who has broken his hand while punching a combative individual in the past, told his officers that he appreciates them, the difficult job they have to do and the sacrifices they make to keep people safe.

"And to my community, hopefully at least here in York, we're working our way past those traumas and scars of the past, past the fear and mistrust caused by the images and the incidents that we've seen outside of this community, past all that, towards once again, giving our officers the benefit of the doubt and having a better relationship than ever before," he said.

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This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York Pa. officer who punched suspect followed policy: Commissioner