Video released by an Ottawa judge shows Special Const. Melanie Morris, left, kicking Terry Delay as fellow officers dragged him to a cell. (Ottawa Police Service)

Ottawa police Chief Vern White says the police will look at how they handle cellblock procedures after the release of the second video in as many weeks showing police handling a person in a jail cell in a rough manner.

White said Thursday that police will look at general procedures, including strip searches, as well as the handling of intoxicated persons, following the conclusion of an investigation by the province's Special Investigations Unit.

White said he was concerned the public confidence in his police force is shaken after the release of the second video in as many weeks showing police handling a person in a jail cell in a rough manner.

But White asked for patience from the public in awaiting the result of an investigation by the province's Special Investigations Unit.

"We can't lose sight of the fact that Ottawa Police Service members respond to thousands of calls every day and they do so with competence and professionalism," said White.

White's news conference came a day after an Ottawa judge released a video from 2009 showing a special constable kicking a homeless man who was being dragged to his cell.

It was the second video showing Ottawa police handling a person in their custody in a manner a judge found to be questionable.

The release of a 2008 video showing the strip search of Ottawa woman Stacy Bonds prompted the SIU investigation and a public outcry. The SIU is an arm's-length civilian group that looks into cases involving death, serious injury or sexual assault where police are involved.

Ottawa police Chief Vern White said he would look at issues of police procedures in cellblocks, including strip searches, and how police handle cases of public intoxication. (CBC)

White said Ottawa police are also bringing in a staff sergeant to look at historical issues, including looking at surveillance videos from police cellblocks.

Special constable appears in both videos

Special Const. Melanie Morris appears in both videos. The video from July 2009 shows Terry Delay, an aboriginal homeless man, being dragged to his cell by several police officers. Morris appears to kick him twice before he is put in his cell.

Delay was arrested for public intoxication after police found him with open liquor. Delay's lawyer, Leo Russomanno, said police alleged Delay had subsequently assaulted Morris.

Charges against Delay of assaulting a police officer were stayed by Ontario Court Justice Dianne Nicholas last year, who said in her comments that Delay had been kicked like "you wouldn't kick a dog."

Morris was also the police officer involved in the 2008 arrest of Stacy Bonds; she could be seen in a video kneeing Bonds twice.

White said Morris is now handling administrative duties during the investigation.

Bonds, a 27-year-old woman with no criminal history, was strip-searched in September 2008 after being arrested on Rideau Street for public intoxication — a charge stayed by Justice Richard Lajoie of the Ontario Court of Justice in a verbal ruling issued Oct. 27 of this year.

Lajoie said it would be a "travesty to permit these proceedings to go on" because of the "appalling behaviours" of police officers seen in a videotape presented in court.

Lajoie later released the video, which showed police officers kneeing Bonds in the back, holding her down and cutting off her bra and the back of her shirt as others watched.

Nicholas, the judge in Delay's case, released the evidence Wednesday after requests from the media. The video and her comments were also entered into evidence in Bonds's case.

White to meet with mayor

Since the release of the Bonds video, at least two other women have come forward claiming similar abuse during arrests.

Newly sworn-in Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson will be meeting with White at City Hall on Thursday afternoon to discuss the relationship between the Ottawa Police Service and the community.

White is meeting Watson before leaving the country for a few weeks to get married in Finland. White said he normally keeps his personal life private, but said the timing required an explanation.

"It's important that the public know this is not about me going away on a holiday and in fact it is difficult to go away at this time," said White. Deputy police chief Gilles Larochelle will represent Ottawa police while he is away, said White.