Calls for reform to Victoria Police's internal complaints process are growing after footage of another violent arrest emerged.
The state's independent anti-corruption body will review the violent arrest of an African-Australian man who was kicked in the head while on the ground, after an internal assessment found it did not constitute excessive force. It comes a day after video emerged of rough handling of a disability pensioner by police.
The latest footage shows the arrest of an African-Australian man who held up a pharmacy with a pair of scissors in the Melbourne suburb of Preston. The CCTV footage of the violent 2016 arrest was obtained by Fairfax Media as part of an investigation into the Victoria Police complaint system. Footage of the man being repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped-on by an officer while on the ground has outraged, but not surprised, legal and community groups.
Ahmed Hassan leads Youth Activating Youth and is a member of Victoria Police's African-Australian community taskforce. He says the man deserved to be arrested and punished for his crime, but not this way.
"Any person who commits a crime does deserve to face the full force of the law regardless of the offence, and rightly so, but that doesn't justify what the police did and the way the police acted. The police are there to upheld the law and protect and serve the community - but when you beat a person up like that you're not easing the situation."
The video shows a police officer punching the man nine times with his right fist, then another two with his left, while the man is on the ground. The officer then stands up and kicks the man in the head. With the man on the ground in handcuffs, the officer stomps on his back. Mr Hassan says he sent some of the footage to young people he's been working with and some that have been arrested before.
"And they go, 'it's nothing new, this has been happening'. As for myself, I've had some concerns for some time now but obviously there's not a proper complaints system in place to voice your concern."
The body that handles complaints against police, the Professional Standards Command, deemed the conduct during the arrest as appropriate. But following the media scrutiny, it's now been referred to the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission. Victorian Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius couldn't say whether the case would have been followed up without the public release of the footage.
"But I can say that with the imminent roll-out of body-worn cameras, to be worn by all operational police officers in Victoria, police and the community will both be in a much better position to secure accountability in relation to not only how police behave but also how citizens behave when they interact with us."
The release of the footage comes a day after video emerged showing a disability pensioner being struck with a baton while on the ground and hosed in the face after being pepper-sprayed. Asked on the ABC's 7.30 program in what circumstances it would be appropriate for police to repeatedly punch someone, Assistant Commissioner Cornelius offered this explanation.
"That force would only be justified in circumstances where the police officer had made the assessment, and this is a reasonable person's assessment, that the use of that force was necessary in order to prevent imminent injury to that officer or some other party."
He found it more difficult to explain how kicking someone would be necessary.
"Kicking anyone in the head, particularly while they lying on the ground, would demand very close scrutiny and a very robust explanation and justification."
Ahmed Hassan is one of many community figures calling for the officers involved to be stood down.
Victorian legal groups have also held a rally on Wednesday on the steps of State Parliament calling for an overhaul of what they say is a failed complaints system.
