Bad cops prefer soft targets.
The resident, a known spitter, spit at the cops. I don't know about you, but when I worked in NY State Corrections, that was considered assault, especially when AIDS was first discovered in the early 80's, and other diseases like drug-resistant TB, flu, Hepatitis B and C, viral meningitis, etc., that can be transmitted through human saliva. The Daily Mail makes it sound like having someone spit on you, isn't a big deal.