Video of former Monongah, W.Va., Police Chief Nathan Lanham arresting Beth Delloma last week is stunning. It shows a woman confused and afraid as Lanham curses at her, points a gun at her, appears agitated, grabs a sledgehammer to smash her windows while she is sitting in the car, and finally chases her down, slams her to the concrete and very roughly attempts to handcuff her.

The offense for which she was being pulled over was an expired registration sticker.

But Delloma knew — as most women have been taught — that there is a risk of carjackers impersonating police. So, when Lanham asked her to roll down her window while he was wearing khakis and a t-shirt, she cautiously rolled down her window slightly and asked him if he had a badge or ID he could show her to demonstrate he was a law enforcement officer.

According to her retelling, that’s when he became unhinged and pointed the gun at her. That did not inspire confidence that she wasn’t being carjacked, so she said she needed to drive somewhere else to get all her documentation and slowly drove away.

According to Delloma, the situation only escalated, to the point where the video picks up — reportedly on the lawn outside a church.

It is difficult to watch the video and not make assumptions about Lanham’s state of mind, or the way he might have regularly conducted himself as an officer. (He is reportedly no longer employed by the city).

That may be unfair, given that we have so far heard only Delloma’s story, but Marion County Prosecutor Jeffrey Freeman’s quick action to drop any charges against her is telling.

A report from Pastor Bill Preston, who witnessed the arrest, sums up the consequences quite well. After discussing the manner in which Lanham was allegedly using extremely foul language and pointing a gun at him and his wife, Preston told WDTV:

“That was the shock to us. I’ve never seen something like that, especially a police officer. You know, I have the greatest respect for the police, and what they have to go through. But, for a police officer to act that unprofessional, I just couldn’t believe it. If a little child, kids, had been around there and seen that — what would they have thought of the police?”

What, indeed? The damage done by this and countless other videos before it is an ever-higher obstacle for the many good law enforcement officers who serve and protect us. It puts them at risk.

Officers doing an incredibly difficult job deserve to know they are receiving the training, reinforcement of protocol and support they need, AND that their superiors are employing all best practices to weed out those with greatest risk of behaving in the way it appears Lanham did.

Anything less is a disservice to them and all of us.