Police in damage control after leak

Queensland’s police service has been forced into damage control following explosive leaked footage of officers bashing a handcuffed man and claims of a culture of police violence.

The CCTV footage, obtained by The Courier-Mail, shows a 21-year-old man being slammed face-first into a concrete floor before being hit by officers using their knees, elbows and fists.

It shows the man again being punched a number of times in the back of a police van, and a senior officer throwing a bucket of water on the concrete to wash away the man’s blood.

A Gold Coast police officer was stood down and the Crime and Misconduct Commission launched an investigation on Wednesday after the footage surfaced.

Noa Begic told The Courier-Mail he was singing loudly as he left a Gold Coast pub in the early hours of January 29 when police approached him and cuffed him.

Mr Begic claims he was assaulted repeatedly and subjected to racist comments on the drive to Surfers Paradise police station.

He complained to police on February 9 and the service’s Ethical Standards Command began an investigation into allegations of excessive force.

Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said the officer at the centre of the allegations has been taken from operational duties.

The officer is not high-ranking and had come to Queensland police relatively recently from another jurisdiction, Mr Atkinson said.

He pledged to fully investigate the matter and denied claims the Queensland Police Service bred a culture of violence.

“Whilst there’s always room for improvement, I don’t believe things have gone backwards, okay, and I don’t believe we’re at a crisis point,” he said.

“But I want to reassure you that we take any complaint of excessive force seriously and it’s an important issue.”

He said police had a tough job that could lead to desensitisation.

“They’re dealing with violence and difficult situations over and over and sometimes their judgment can be frayed,” he said, adding that punching someone in the head was sometimes justified.

“It would depend on the circumstances,” he said.

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Terry O’Gorman said the episode reflected a “significant problem” within the Queensland Police Service.

It was the third such incident to be captured on camera in recent years, he said.

Mr O’Gorman cited the cases of a tourist who had a fire-hose shoved down her throat at Airlie Beach, and of a homeless man who was bashed in Brisbane’s mall.

“It shows that amongst certain police there’s a culture of impunity, that you can assault and there’s no consequences,” he told AAP.

“And it also throws up the very worrying question: if that sort of behaviour is occurring when they know CCTV cameras are there, what’s happening when there’s no CCTV cameras?”

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said it would be inappropriate to comment because charges against Mr Begic were still before the courts.

“However, the police union fully supports all police involved and we look forward to the chance to make public all facts of this matter in due course,” he said in a statement to AAP.

Mr Begic says he intends to plead not guilty to charges of public nuisance and obstructing police, with the matter due in the Southport Magistrates Court on April 4.

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