Online video shows security guard kicking handcuffed man in Helsinki

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A video clip posted on the Internet shows a private security guard kicking a man who is lying on the ground with handcuffs on. One of two guards looks on as the other one assaults the immobilised man at the Kontula shopping centre in the east of Helsinki on October 1st this year.
      Police began an investigation into the event on Tuesday.
      Petri Miettinen, CEO of FPS Security, admitted on Tuesday that the guards were employed by his company. He said that both had been suspended.
      Miettinen said that he had learned about the video on YouTube on Tuesday morning. YouTube is an Internet service whose users post video clips on line for others to watch.
     
The events take place beneath a pedestrian bridge. The clip was posted by a YouTube user using the name AllSeeingEyez, who says that the events were recorded on a camera phone, and notes that the first blow that made the victim fall did not get recorded.
      The clip begins with the man on his knees in front of the guard, while the other one walks away. One of the guards orders the man to lie down.
      The man stands up and the guard who is walking away turns back and strikes the man so that he falls onto his side.
      The guards then handcuff the man’s hands behind his back, after which the same guard who had first struck him kicks him twice in the back or side.
     
The video is just under a minute in duration. There is no suggestion that the guards would have known that they were on camera. There is no information on what events led up to the incident.
      The two guards in question were shown the clip on Tuesday. Miettinen said that the guards did not dispute the authenticity of the recording. However, they said that the use of force was necessary in the situation.
      Miettinen felt that one of the two used excessive force, and the company willnot use his services for the time being. The 22-year-old man had worked in the field for about three years. The other guard was also relieved of his duties for the time being because he had failed to report the incident.
     
The guards said that the man was stopped after he had hit and kicked a woman in the head. He had been uncooperative when the guards confronted him.
      "We take this very seriously, and we emphasise that guards must always act under the principle of inflicting the least possible harm. In our view this is not what happened", Miettinen said.
      The head of the police investigation, Ilkka Juola of the Itäkeskus Police, did not confirm or deny the authenticity of the video, because the investigation was in its early stages.
      Juola said that if the authenticity of the video is confirmed, one of the guards could be charged with assault.


Links:
  YouTube clip from Kontula on October 10th, 2006 1:47 AM (requires registration)

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