Police officers in Atlanta were caught on video inappropriately injuring a handcuffed woman by kicking her in the head. The video has surfaced and went viral on Twitter through the @atluncensored account, which prompted the Atlanta Police Department to take action on the matter.
The “actions of the sergeant appear to be unacceptable,” APD said in a statement Monday following the incident going viral on social media. In the video, the woman attempts to look up at the sergeant after lying in a prone position on the ground, only to be kicked in the face and subdued back onto the ground. A female officer stood in observance throughout the incident while a third male officer comes around the police vehicle after the kick occurred.
The identities and names of the officers have not been shared with the public, but the APD has indicated that they were not pleased with the “lack of reaction” displayed from the female officer who watched the incident occur. After the decision was made to relieve the two officers from active duty, the APD released the following statement:
“The decision was made to immediately relieve the sergeant and the officer from duty and place the sergeant on unpaid suspension. The Atlanta Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards (OPS) was directed to open an investigation into the actions of all employees on-scene and their investigation is to be expedited.”
The department also noted that the actions of both officers fell outside of their training standards, but they have indicated that they will conduct an investigation on the situation to get to the bottom of where the officers went wrong in protocol.
Check out video of the incident below, but be warned that the actions displayed are graphic in nature.