The police officer caught on video in a baton beating thinks he showed “compassion” in only hitting a prone and unarmed suspect about 20 times, his lawyer said in closing statements yesterday.

“Did he use too much force, or did he use too little?” lawyer Stephen Worth asked. He reminded the jury of how the cuffed suspect had still lunged angrily at defendant Officer David London two years ago in a Manhattan housing project lobby — even after being beaten.

“I suggest to you that out of compassion, he used too little,” Worth told jurors.