Cops briefly suspended after video of them beating 16-year-old girl goes viral

Officers in Lansing, Michigan, were placed on leave after video appeared on social media showing them striking a 16-year-old girl, reports WILX.

The officers approached a home where they suspected the girl and a 14-year-old boy -- wanted on probation violations, escape from custody, and runaway warrants -- were staying, police said.

The teens tried to flee, but were captured soon after. After the girl resisted being put into a police car, video shows an officer beat her on the leg.

Despite temporarily suspending the officers, Lansing Police Chief Mike Yankowski defended the maneuver the cop used to get the teen girl in the car.

"Police officers used a training technique, what we call a strike to her thigh ... as a distraction, in order for her to remove her leg from outside of the vehicle," he said.

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