Kicking police officer did not break rules on violence, says inquiry

Tuesday 26 June 2012

The female police officer who kicked a drunken man will not face prosecution because she did not commit a criminal offence, the public prosecution department in Rotterdam said on Tuesday.

The arrest of the man was filmed by an eyewitness and shows the blonde officer kicking him as he hunched over in a doorway.

But an internal police inquiry has established the 29-year-old man displayed aggressive behaviour before the filming started by kicking, hitting and using verbal violence against the police officers.

Pepper spray

The officers had attempted to arrest the man but had only managed to fit one of his wrists into handcuffs. Pepper spray failed to calm the man so, aware of the danger which could be caused by the loose handcuffs swinging around, the police officer ‘worked the man to the ground using carefully placed kicks’, the department said in a statement.

‘This was proportional [violence] given the situation and the public prosecutor has decided not to press charges,’ the statement said.

Outside experts – one a public prosecution department official from Noord-Nederland and one a former police chief - also reached the same conclusion, the statement said.

The man who was arrested is said to remember nothing of the incident and has confessed to drinking at least 30 glasses of beer and vodka. He was not injured by the kicks.

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