By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON (AA) — "Horrified and shocked" was how a former British police superintendent described her reaction to a video of an officer kicking and stomping on the head of a young man at Manchester Airport.
Speaking to Anadolu on the footage that erupted on social media this week, Nusrit Mehtab said law enforcement should only use force in where it is justified.
“Actually, it was a very difficult watch when it first came on social media. I've seen so many different clips of it from different angles to get the full perspective, because sometimes if it's only a very short clip, you don't get the whole picture.
"But seeing it from all different angles, in my mind, as having served as a police officer, and having seen that the man who was on the floor, flat, with his face down, hands by your side was posing no risk, no danger to anybody, that looked disproportionate," she said.
Mehtab underlined that on any occasion, the use of force by British police officers must be "proportional, reasonable and necessary."
"And for me, unless there's other information, that force was not necessary to kick a man in the face, and then stomp on his head."
Mehtab's remarks came after a video showing an officer of the Great Manchester Police using brutal force on two men at Manchester Airport went viral for the past two days. The officer has since been suspended and the matter referred to an independent policing conduct watchdog.
She said: "But the interesting thing is that the same officer then goes off to a man who's sitting on the bench with his hands in the air, drags him down, and then hits him at the back of the head with the taser.
"And then, he's seen again in another incident, pepper spraying a man ... just standing there."
Mehtab said police officers are "professionals" and they're trained to deal with these situations. "And they have a higher standard, a higher threshold to meet."
"From what I can see in this occasion, the officer has failed, and he failed miserably."
- Suspension
Mehtab hailed the decision to suspend the officer as "absolutely right" because "he can't be trusted with a gun."
On the probe that is now taking place into the Manchester police, she said the force did not refer itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct but that it was asked to do so by the watchdog after the viral video caused public outcry across the country.
"So, there is now going to be a protracted investigation," she said.
"Depending on what they find for that investigation," this officer could face criminal charges, she said, adding that one of the young men in the video, who "is only 19 years old, has now a cyst on the brain and his condition is worsening."
"I pray that he's okay but if anything happens to him, then the officer will be charged."
This was confirmed by Akhmed Yakoob, the lawyer representing the family, who revealed on Thursday that Fahir, the victim, was found to have a cyst on his brain following a CT scan after the incident.
Yakoob made a public statement outside Rochdale Police Station, emphasizing the gravity of Fahir's condition, which has "worsened overnight."
- Other officers
According to Mehtab, the other officers at the scene also had a "duty to intervene to stop their colleague."
"When you see your colleague kicking somebody, you should intervene straightaway. But unfortunately, what they were doing was going around and you know, telling people not to film, so really are in my view, they're all culpable," she said.
"Police officers have to abide by the law. They wear the uniform. They are public servants and they have a duty of care to the public. When that young man was on the floor ... the duty of care goes to all of those people around him, all the police officers around him and it will be interesting to see what the police officers write in their notes," added Mehtab, explaining that it would be "up to the police officer to justify that force."
The former police superintendent also said officers had the responsibility to "calm down" situations that appear to be escalating.
"Put handcuffs on, secure, take him out. They didn't seem to do that ... They were just running around chaotically."
- Body cameras
Policing is about "treating other people regardless of what they've done," said Mehtab. "That's what separates a highly trained individual from a member of the public."
She argued that the Greater Manchester Police should release the footage captured by the body-worn cameras of the police officers involved in the incident.
"To prevent it escalating in terms of the community, police can and should consider releasing (footage from) the body worn (cameras)," she said.
Highlighting that the brother of the two men was actually a member of the police force, Mehtab said he could not go to work because "he fears his own safety."
"What a hostile environment to be working in!"
- Institutional racism
Mehtab thinks the latest incident will not help the image of the police, who have been working to recruit more staff from the Black and Asian communities.
"How is that good advert for recruitment of Black and Asian officers who would want to join Greater Manchester Police at this time?" she asked.
"Policing is institutionally racist," said Mehtab, suggesting that police had gathered the data and conducted the reviews to understand that "their systems and processes are broken."
"Institutional racism doesn't mean that every single police officer is racist." Instead, she said, it refers to "systems and processes discriminate against minorities."