Minimum force necessary to compel compliance is a common guiding principle. Retaliation, while it may feel good, may not be the best way to end conflicts.
It's not retaliation when it's in response to a pattern that's repeated itself, and shows no sign of being over. The purpose of the punch was to deter further violence, which appeared (by a pattern just observed) to be an ongoing event unless stopped by a counter force.
Minimum force techniques were used repeatedly by the officers and it did NOT stop the assailant's repeated attacks on the officer. Some people don't get it
I think the officer can make a strong case that his actions were consistent with policy. I can also say that based on my training and my read of that situation, that is not what I would have done. My read is that she was a very low threat of much harm. One way or another, she would have been arrested. Nobody should get away with that kind of assault on an officer.
