The Vancouver police officer seen smashing a car window in video viewed more than 250,000 times on YouTube was just doing his job, according to his chief.

The cell phone footage, which was shot in November but only uploaded last Thursday, shows an officer repeatedly ordering a driver to exit his vehicle around 41st Avenue and Maple Street. When the driver doesn’t comply, the officer shatters his window, opens the door and yanks him outside with help from a partner.

The incident has sparked heated debate online about the officer’s actions, and on Tuesday Police Chief Jim Chu spoke out to defend him, stating the vehicle was pulled over due to suspected impaired driving.

“Our officer acted proactively when he saw a car weaving that could at any minute strike another car or pedestrian causing injury or worse,” Chu said in a written statement.

“Marihuana smoke billowing from the car made the cause of impairment obvious.”

A roadside sobriety test was performed, but the driver wasn’t charged with impaired driving.

Pot was allegedly found in the car, however, and the driver, who has not filed an official complaint against police, has since been charged with at least one drug offence. Chu said there were enough drugs to warrant a count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Multiple requests for comment from the driver have not been returned, but he has defended himself online by insisting he has a prescription for medical pot.

He also argued his constitutional rights were violated.

“I asked him several times why I was being pulled over, he would not tell,” reads a blog post accompanying the video. “I was physically assaulted and it has left me emotionally traumatized. I do not feel safe anymore.”

In the video, the officer can be seen ignoring the driver’s questions about why he was pulled over. He eventually tells the driver he can smell pot coming from the car, shortly before he breaks the window.

Criminal lawyer Paul Doroshenko said police have an obligation to explain why they’re making an arrest under Section 10 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“It’s a fair and reasonable thing to ask of the police,” he told CTV News over the weekend. “You don’t expect the police to pull you over, yell at you, call you a moron, not answer the question about your one legal right that you’ve got immediately upon detention, smash your window, drag you out of your car and arrest you.”

Chu said no one was injured, but it’s unfortunate the officer had to use force, but that no one was injured.