A Stockholm policewoman is suspected of assault after a witness filmed her beating a drunken man with a baton and setting her dog on him in a violent attack.
In the attack, which occurred in central Stockholm and was caught on camera, the woman is seen hitting a drunken man fourteen times with her baton while her dog snaps at him and bites him. She continually tells the man to "lie down", which he ignores, trying instead to fend off the dog and the woman.
Eventually he lies down bleeding while the police officers pacifies the dog and calls for an ambulance.
The policewoman, who is currently on holiday, will be reassigned when she returns to work, according to DN.
The man who is beaten in the video is also suspected of assault, making illegal threats, causing damages, and drug crimes. He was never detained during the incident, which occurred on a Friday night in mid-July.
The video, which was filmed by a passerby and can be seen on Dagens Nyheter,has awoken strong reactions around Sweden.
"I can only say that this film gives reason to suspect that a crime has been committed by the police," Mats Åhlund of the Swedish National Police Crimes Unit (Riksenheten för polismål) told the paper.
"An investigation must be properly made into what happened before and after, but it's crystal clear that there is a reason to suspect a crime."
While some commentators are outraged by what they believe is unnecessary police violence, others have pointed out that the video begins with the policewoman's attack and does not show what the man did to provoke the officer.
TT/The Local/og
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