Alongside the peaceful protests and images of destruction in the wake of the death of George Floyd, there have also been disturbing videos, photos and reports of police officers appearing to use excessive force and violence against demonstrators.
The incidents have raised questions about whether some officers are responding with an inappropriate use of force, forgoing training tactics and becoming overly hostile.
An arrest in Atlanta of two college students Saturday night, as a citywide curfew was going into effect, was so excessive, police officials said Sunday, that two officers involved were fired and three others were placed on desk duty.
A video of the incident showed one of the students getting dragged from the car, while the driver, who remained behind the wheel, was tased and then pulled out of the vehicle. It's unclear what preceded the incident, but Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields told reporters that "how we behaved is unacceptable," reported NBC affiliate WXIA.
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"This is not who we are," Shields said. "I am truly sorry to those individuals. We are still working to get it right."
Other cities grappling with unrest have been faced with their own policing complaints during protests. An investigation was opened in New York City after video showed a pair of New York Police Department SUVs plowing into a crowd Saturday in Brooklyn.
Protestors had thrown traffic cones and other items at one of the SUVs when a second vehicle arrived and drove slowly through a crowd. But the first SUV then barreled through a barricade at a higher speed, forcing the crowd to disperse and pushing some people to the ground. Multiple city officials told NBC News there were no injuries.
Initially, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that while he wished the officers didn't respond in such a manner, the incident was not started by them but by "a group of protesters converging on a police vehicle, attacking that vehicle. It's unacceptable."
The officers' actions, however, horrified Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who tweeted that people could have been killed and "NO ONE gets to slam an SUV through a crowd of human beings."
On Sunday morning, de Blasio shifted his criticism onto the officers, saying that an independent review would examine their actions and what could have been done differently.
"There were many things done right by the NYPD," de Blasio said, adding, "There were also mistakes that must be investigated."
But that wasn't the only incident that has come under scrutiny, throughout the last few days of protests.
NYPD officers in Brooklyn were seen using batons and pepper spray against protesters as people fell to the ground amid the confusion.
Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, shared a video Saturday that appeared to show New York protesters with their hands up, and an NYPD officer pulling a black protester's mask down and pepper-spraying him in the face.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the incident. In a tweet Sunday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea defended the nation's largest police force, writing, "I'm extremely proud of the way you've comported yourselves in the face of such persistent danger, disrespect, and denigration."
But no matter how chaotic the situation, officers must rely on their training and do everything in their power to de-escalate a situation, said George Kirkham, a former police officer and professor emeritus at the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University.
"You cannot start meting out extrajudicial punishment," Kirkham said.
