Sarasota Police Officer Derrick Gilbert is now the subject of an internal investigation after a reporter showed a security camera video from a Sarasota County Area Transit station to the city manager.
The video shows Gilbert apparently swinging a homeless man into a metal ticket office before the officer cuffed the man. The homeless man wound up with a big gash on his head and was ultimately taken away on a gurney by emergency medical workers.
Gilbert has been a Sarasota Police officer since 1997.
In a statement, Sarasota City Manager Tom Barwin said, "Sworn officers with the Sarasota Police Department have been counseled repeatedly to treat all others with respect and dignity at all times even under trying and challenging circumstances. Anything less is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. "
Earlier this week, the American Civil Liberties Union accused the Sarasota Police Department of "waging a war on the homeless." The ACLU says SPD is using the city's homeless ordinance to "single out the homeless." And the organization is suing the city on behalf of the homeless.
In the last few weeks, one Sarasota Police officer arrested a homeless man for using an electrical outlet in a public park to recharge his cell phone.
