Police in the New York city of Rochester are under scrutiny again after officers tackled a Black woman they suspected of shoplifting while her 3-year-old watched, and then pepper-sprayed her in the face as she held her toddler. Based on a body-cam video of the latest incident, which took place February 22 and was released Friday, an officer stops the woman on the snow-covered shoulder of a road, telling her a store had accused her of stealing.

The woman, carrying her tiny daughter in one arm, denies having shoplifted anything, while opening her purse and showing it to the officer, and saying, "I didn't steal nothing." The video shows the officer asking the woman to wait with him, but she suddenly runs with her child still in her arms.

The officer then chases her down the street, aggressively tackles her in a parking lot and restrains her.

The woman tries to stand up and grab for her screaming daughter, but police use pepper spray to subdue her and force her back to the ground.

The child can be seen wandering and crying, "mommy, mommy." The woman is heard telling the officers, "I did not steal anything" amid the struggle until another officer arrives at the scene and pulls the child away.

The officer involved has been placed on administrative duty pending an investigation, and the woman was charged with trespassing.

The city's Police Accountability Board, made up entirely of civilians, said it was "disturbed" by the video, which it released.

And City Council president Loretta Scott said that "the amount of force used, coupled with the emotional damage suffered by this child, was disproportionate to the alleged crime.”

Rochester police have come under fire in recent months over similar incidents that raised questions about their use of force.

Last year in March, Daniel Prude, a Black man, who was having a mental health crisis, died in hospital after his encounter with police.

His family uncovered video footage showing officers putting a hood over the head of the man while he was in handcuffs.

Then one officer is seen pushing Prude’s face against the ground, while another officer is pressing a knee to his back.

The officers held the 41-year-old man down for about two minutes until he fell unconscious.

He was taken off life support a week later.

In another encounter on January 29, Rochester officers handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old while responding to what police said was a report of "family trouble." Also in May 2020, a 10-year-old girl was handcuffed during a traffic stop.

The girl's father, alleges the handcuffs used on his daughter caused injury, and that she was "thrown" in the back of a police car.

 The girl is seen handcuffed in a police car.

"Her wrists were extremely red and bruised," said the father.

"She was crying.

Right now, she’s suffering from anxiety.

Her mother just broke down."