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Investigation after police filmed kicking man in doorway

The Dutch ombudsman is launching an investigation into an incident in which a female police officer was filmed kicking a man in a shop doorway.

Footage of the incident in Rotterdam quickly spread through the internet after it appeared on YouTube on Tuesday.

It shows a man who appears to be heavily drunk being approached by two police officers. After a short conversation one of the women kicks him several times while her male colleague looks on.

Ombudsman Alex Brenninkmeijer said he was “shocked by the severity of the kicking incident” and would be investigating whether the use of violence was justified.

Rotterdam’s police department have begun an internal investigation. They said that just before the incident the man had been behaving aggressively towards the police officers, who responded by using pepper spray.

Brenninkmeijer said: “The pictures which show the female officer kicking give grounds in particular for serious doubt.”

Both of the police officers involved in the incident were on duty as normal on Wednesday. Police said they had not received a formal complaint and the officers would not be suspended.

Rotterdam police declined to give details of the internal investigation, but said they had spoken to witnesses who claimed the man had used violence against the two officers.

Source: De Volkskrant: Ombudsman geschokt door schopincident agente

Still taken from YouTube. Watch the video here.