Body-cam footage of a first class American Airlines passenger at Dallas Fort Worth Airport (DFW) has been released by Police Watch, a social media channel that provides raw and unfiltered footage of police officers in action.
The video shows police officers waiting on the jet bridge at DFW Airport and speaking to a flight attendant who tells them what the passenger is alleged to have done.
“Officers were called to the plane in reference to a highly intoxicated woman who was making various threats to the flight attendants,” Police Watch captioned the video.
The flight attendant can be heard telling a police officer that the unruly passenger was seated in 1A, and went on to say that the passenger “tried to kick my a**”.
Succeeding clips then show the passenger being handcuffed by police officers at the airport gate while other passengers look on.
The passenger can be seen crying as a police officer explains to her that she will be taken to a facility for a minimum of four hours until she “sobers up”.
After being escorted out of the airport, a police officer tells the passenger that DFW Airport has its “own jail”, whereupon the passenger breaks down. At this point, a man who introduces himself as the boyfriend of the passenger approaches and asks police officers what is going on. A police officer explains that the passenger was arrested due to “public intoxication” and that she is going to “go to jail.”
The passenger’s tirades escalate when she is brought to the police car to be searched, calling police officers offensive names and at one point mocking their salaries.
The video, which runs for almost 25 minutes, ends with the passenger being taken to the DFW Airport Police Jail, a low-security jail that is maintained and operated by officers at the DFW Airport Police Department.
According to a bond services company, DFW Airport Jail is typically used to house inmates who are serving sentences of less than a year and new detainees before they are moved to the nearest county jail.
Most inmates are convicted for misdemeanor offenses and have access to basic amenities.
Though the incident occurred on October 22, 2023, the raw police body cam footage has only been made available to the public in March 2024.