BELLEVUE, Wash. — A Twitter video posted Friday shows a violent take down of a woman outside the Factoria Mall.
The post came as protests continue to rage in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd last week.
However, Bellevue Police say the incident happened in December of 2018 when an officer pulled a woman over outside the mall for failing to transfer the title to her car.
They claim she was uncooperative with the officer, kept the car in gear and kept reaching into her purse.
At that point, Officer Will Dowsing takes her down to the ground and puts her in what police call a "neck restraint."
"I get it," says Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett. "When I first saw the video I raised my eyebrows and said, hang on a second."
Mylett says Dowsing acted appropriately because the woman refused to comply with his calm and repeated requests, and he believed she might have a weapon or try to hit him with her car.
A photo released by the department appears to show the officer's knee on her neck. George Floyd died when a Minneapolis police officer kept a knee on his neck for about 8 minutes.
Mylett says that was not the case here.
"I know people are gonna say that clearly the knee is on the neck. The knee is in the upper back, close to the neck. It's a proper restraint."
Additional video released by the department shows the woman screaming that she was being kidnapped by police.
Mylett now says he has suspended the use of "neck restraints" unless the officer finds himself in a situation that calls for deadly force.
Still, Mylett calls the technique "very effective" and says it is used six to ten times a year by Bellevue police with no serious injuries or deaths.
"It prevents injury to both parties," he says.
Mylett concedes many officers won't like the technique being taken away, but in the wake of all that has happened across America over the past week, he believes it's time to take a pause.
"It's a divisive topic," he says. "I know it is."
Bellevue police say the woman was not hurt in the incident and didn't file a complaint with the department.
KING 5 also spoke to Bob Scales, CEO of Police Strategies, a firm specializing in police data and policy. We asked him about the Bellevue video and other police techniques that have come under scrutiny.
The Bellevue Police Department shared this recruiting video that demonstrates some of their tactics.