Cuthbert Police Rule Officer's Force "Lawful" in Viral Arrest Video, Reprimand Him for Profanity

Officers in Cuthbert, Georgia were called out around 11:21 p.m. on September 6 to reports of gunfire near Lands Alley, where they found a crowd of more than 200 people. It took more than 10 minutes just to disperse them. In the middle of that scene, Police Captain Derrell Gilbert arrested a woman named Jaliyah Garrett — and a bystander's video of the arrest is still generating outrage more than a week later.

Gilbert had seen Garrett run behind a car and hit someone inside it, according to police. When he moved to take her into custody, she was non-compliant. The footage that went viral shows Gilbert pushing Garrett against the car while shouting profanities and threatening to throw her to the ground if she moved, as bystanders questioned the arrest and Gilbert told them to back away.

After reviewing both bodycam and social media footage, the Cuthbert Police Department concluded Gilbert's physical force was "lawful and reasonable to make the arrest." It drew a separate line on his language, stating: "Captain Gilbert's use of profanity was not consistent with the Cuthbert Police Department's standards with regard to interaction with the public." He received a written reprimand — the only discipline issued.

The finding hasn't settled the debate in Cuthbert. One resident, speaking anonymously, said Gilbert's demeanor toward Garrett "was totally unnecessary" and questioned whether a written reprimand amounts to real accountability. The department, meanwhile, stands by its conclusion that the force itself was justified — leaving the case as a rare instance where investigators publicly split the difference between the two questions a viral arrest video always raises: was the force lawful, and was it right.