For starters could the officer have handled the situation better? Yes but he was within the limits of the law. I love how some of you that critisize the actions of the officer forget to mention that she took a swing at the backup officer. That said once she swung then the cop was allowed to use the amount of ***** he deemed nessesary to control the situation. To get her out of the car and arrest her immediatly would invite a certain amount of danger. She could have a weapon that could put the officers lives in danger. When she would not comply they used nessesary ***** to get her to comply, they could then pat her down safely and determine if she had a weapon before putting her in the vehicle.
P.S. for those of you who said that if you knew a cop was wrong you would call him out on it. Some advice, don't even think about it. You will never when a confrontaiton with a police officer on the street. If you think that the officer has/is ********* your constitutional rights, fight in in court.