A video of an armed police officer kicking and stamping on a man’s head has plunged Greater Manchester Police (GMP), the country’s second largest force, into crisis. The incident at Manchester Airport on Tuesday night has led to widespread condemnation. Protestors have gathered outside Rochdale police station, with some in the crowd chanting: ‘GMP shame on you’.
The footage showed a uniformed officer holding a Taser over a man lying on the floor before kicking him twice
An officer has been suspended and the force has referred itself to the policing watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Feelings are understandably running high locally, but investigators must be allowed time to assess the available evidence before the rush to judgment.
The footage showed a uniformed officer holding a Taser over a man lying on the floor before kicking him twice as his colleagues shout at onlookers to stand back. In the clip, a man can be heard shouting ‘stop kicking people’.
Significantly, the events preceding this scene were not included in the video that went viral. The force itself acknowledged that the footage circulating online was ‘truly shocking’, but added that firearms officers had been subjected to a ‘violent assault’ while trying to make an arrest. They were taken to hospital for treatment. A female officer suffered a broken nose. Four men were later arrested on suspicion of assault and affray; all have since been bailed.
Reaction to the events has been swift. Reform MP Lee Anderson said on X/Twitter: ‘The vast majority of decent Brits would applaud this type of policing. We are sick of the namby pamby approach. Time to back our boys in blue.’
Manchester Airport last night This can not go unchallenged. This is absolutely brutal and disgusting. Make this go viral
— Imam Ibrahim M Noonan of AMA Ireland & NI (@ImamNoonan) July 24, 2024
These officers need to be fired pic.twitter.com/OyVkQapnbV
But Anderson is mistaken to think that most Brits are automatically on the police’s side. Multiple recent scandals have rocked the public’s faith in policing.
Anderson is not the only one who is wide of the mark when it comes to jumping to conclusions. Dal Babu, a former chief superintendent in the Metropolitan Police, said he thought that racism had ‘played a significant part’ in the incident. What evidence does he have to make such a claim? Not enough. Only the independent investigators have all the video footage, including police bodyworn video and CCTV images. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, made a telling remark. He said his initial reaction on seeing the footage was that it was ‘very disturbing’, but after looking at the ‘full footage’ the situation was ‘not clear cut’. That surely is the point. The investigators should be allowed to do their job and come to their findings based on all the facts. A few – admittedly very disturbing – images doing the rounds online are insufficient grounds on which to reach definitive conclusions.
This controversy could not have come at a worse time for Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police. Just days ago, an independent report concluded that vulnerable women in custody were unnecessarily strip-searched, denied period products and treated like ‘meat’ by police officers. The report found officers were ‘using their power unwisely, unnecessarily, and sometimes unlawfully’.
GMP was placed in special measures between 2020 and 2022 after inspectors found the force had failed to record a fifth of all reported crimes. Yet Watson has attracted praise for his back-to-basics approach which appeared to be bearing fruit: arrests are up, crime down and more investigations solved. This latest furore means he now has his work cut out rebuilding trust in the force.
The policing watchdog has confirmed that it is investigating the level of force used in the airport incident and that its inquiry will be ‘thorough and robust’. It must also be swift in publishing its findings. Until then, everyone else would be wise to keep their counsel.
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