Texas policeman suspended after pulling gun on teen at pool party

[June 08, 2015]  AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Dallas-area policeman has been placed on administrative leave after a video surfaced in social media that showed him throwing a bathing-suit clad girl to the ground and drawing a gun on another at a pool party disturbance, officials said on Sunday.

"This video has raised concerns that are being investigated," the police department in McKinney, a city about 30 miles north of Dallas, said on Sunday.

The incident occurred on Friday and raised questions on social media about racial bias in policing since most of the people targeted by the officer, who appears in the video to be white, were black teens in a multi-race crowd.

In the video, the officer, who has not been named, is seen shouting obscenities at the teens and placing a black youth in handcuffs.

Another officer, who also appears to be white, is seen engaging with some of the teens in a cordial manner.

"Having seen the YouTube video, I am disturbed and concerned by the incident and actions depicted in the video," McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said in a written statement.

"Our expectation as a City Council is that our police department and other departments will act professionally and with appropriate restraint relative to the situation they are faced with," he said.

McKinney Police said officers were responding to a disturbance reported at a pool that is part of a residential community and many in the crowd refused to leave.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Nick Zieminski)

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