How should the doused police officers have reacted?

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - The videos of people on the streets of New York dousing cops with water and the officers showing complete restraint have taken the city—and now country—by storm.

A retired police lieutenant told FOX 5 NY that the cops seen in the video should have reacted—with handcuffs.

"The officers should have immediately turned around and asked that individual to turn around and put your hands behind your back and arrested them for harassment," former NYPD Lt. Darrin Porcher said. "That would've now created a cease and desist in connection with dumping water on not just the officers but the people in the community."

Copycat videos are now starting to surface, like one of female officers being doused in the Bronx. And the Sergeants Benevolent Association tweeted out another video where you can see young kids in on the action.

"Just because we are charging someone with minimal charges that doesn't mean we shouldn't take police action, the key to this is omnipresence," Porcher said.

President Trump reacted on twitter Thursday by pointing blame at Mayor Bill de Blasio. He wrote in part that it's time for de Blasio "...to STAND UP for those who protect our lives and serve us all so well."

The mayor was quick to fire back with a string of his own tweets. One of them reads that the president "...knows NOTHING about his hometown. He never lived a real New York City life. He should get off Twitter and stick to what he's good at: watching TV when he claims to be working."

"He should have a continuous sustainment process, ongoing with the police department to ensure they have the ability to confidently deal with situations as they arise in the city," Porcher said. "That clearly hasn't occurred."

The Trump-de Blasio comments come one day after police made a round of arrests in connection with some of the dousings. Police are hoping those arrests with deter New Yorkers from disrespecting law enforcement going forward.