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Guernsey police have pledged to take "all appropriate steps" if any evidence of misconduct is found after a video of several officers restraining a man in custody garnered nearly 800,000 views and came under heavy fire on social media.
At the time of writing, the video has been viewed more than 785,000 times on X (formerly Twitter) and is understood to be circulating widely via WhatsApp in Guernsey.
Express was made aware of the video last week. It shows a man being restrained, stripped, and left in the prone position in a cell.
The footage, which is understood to have been edited, has since been shared independently on social media by a UK crime writer, who raised concerns about how the situation was handled. The same writer had previously raised concerns about how a woman had been treated by Guernsey Police, who batted down any claims of using excessive force.
It is understood that the man in the video has since lodged a complaint with the Professional Standards Department in Guernsey.
In a statement released yesterday, Guernsey Police acknowledged that the "edited, standalone clip" shows officers "using force in a way which could cause distress to those who have seen it".
However, the force claimed that "the footage does not show what happened prior to and following this intervention".
They confirmed that the matter had been brought to the attention of the Professional Standards Department, and that there was also a separate "data protection investigation into a potential breach" ongoing.
The full statement explained: “As a police service we are often faced with accusations which leave us in the position of wishing we could give more of an explanation, and provide all of the context we hold, but are unable to do so because of our role as a public authority, and the very high standards we are rightly held to.
"This is one of those circumstances, but we will provide as much information as possible to try and maintain public confidence.
"The footage released is an edited, standalone clip, which when viewed without surrounding context does, we acknowledge, show officers using force in a way which could cause distress to those who have seen it.
“In this case, various investigations are ongoing into this matter, including a data protection investigation into a potential breach.
"Therefore all we are able to say at this moment in time is the circumstances of this case involved officers restraining a man who had just been arrested for violent offences – Grievous Bodily Harm and resisting arrest.
"When he was brought into custody he was violent which meant the booking procedure could not be completed and he was taken straight to a cell.
"When detainees are ordinarily brought into custody they are asked to change into custody-provided clothing if there are concerns around the state of the detainee, their safety or the safety of others.
"Officers would ask detainees to do this voluntarily, but if this does not happen officers must ensure it happens, as per our procedures."
It continued: “The individual from this CCTV footage has subsequently received a custodial sentence in Court.
“The footage does not show what happened prior to and following this intervention, but Police must on occasions work with members of our community who will not comply with reasonable requests in order to ensure a safe and secure custody environment.
“Guernsey Police would strongly urge members of the community against judging the actions of officers through edited versions of CCTV and reach conclusions via the ‘court of public opinion’ and social media, without being aware of the full facts.
"Clearly the persons responsible for circulating this footage did not highlight publicly the violent nature of the offence for which this person was arrested and their conduct towards staff whilst in custody.
“The matter has been brought to the attention of our Professional Standards Department and we want to assure the community we will take all appropriate steps if there is any inference of misconduct.”
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