The power of video: Deputy suspended after dumping man out of his wheelchair

The incident in which a man in Tampa, Fla., was dumped onto the floor from his wheelchair, while being booked by sheriff's deputies actually happened on Jan. 29. But this week a video of a Hillsborough County deputy dumping quadriplegic Brian Sterner on the floor hit YouTube. After seeing the footage, the sheriff's office suspended the deputy on Feb. 12.

In the two days since the first video of the incident was posted on YouTube, more than 70,000 people have looked at it. I think video can be a powerful ally in documenting abuse of people with disabilities. It's also becoming a routine way to document police misconduct. Here in Baltimore, friends of a skateboarder posted a video of him being berated by a cop. The video already has more than 500,000 views on YouTube just 5 days after being posted. The Baltimore Sun reports that citizens making videos of the police has become the norm in some city neighborhoods: "Citizens armed with cameras - even in their cell phones - are filming officers in action, sometimes with unflattering results."

This phenomenon could be a real asset to people with disabilities and their friends and families. In addition to abuse, people with disabilities with video cameras can document violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, inaccessible buildings, and discrimination in many forms.

The Associated Press report on the dumping incident:
Four Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies have been suspended after purposely tipping a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair at a jail, authorities said Tuesday.

Orient Road Jail surveillance footage from Jan. 29 shows veteran deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones, 44, dumping Brian Sterner out of his wheelchair and searching him on the floor after he was brought in on a warrant after a traffic violation.

Sterner said when he was taken into a booking room and told to stand up, Jones grew agitated when he told her that he could not.

"She was irked that I wasn't complying to what she was telling me to do," he told The Tampa Tribune. "It didn't register with her that she was asking me to do something I can't do."

Jones has been suspended without pay, and Sgt. Gary Hinson, 51, Cpl. Steven Dickey, 45 and Cpl. Decondra Williams, 36 have also been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

"The actions are indefensible at every level," Chief Deputy Jose Docobo said. "Based on what I saw, anything short of dismissal would be inappropriate."

In Tampa Bay's 10 News report on Feb. 13, Brian Sterner explains what happened to him and the broken ribs he sustained from the dumping.