Investigation into use of force - City of London Police, April 2022

In early May 2022 we received a referral from City of London Police about the conduct of one of their officers after they were called to a disturbance at a restaurant. We started an independent investigation into whether the force used by the officer that day was reasonable, necessary and proportionate.

In April 2022, City of London Police were called to a report of a disturbance. A woman was being verbally aggressive towards members of staff and customers at a restaurant and refused to leave. Police went to the scene and the woman was arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

The woman was restrained on the ground by officers where she continued to be verbally and physically aggressive. The officer subject to our investigation took hold of the woman’s head and forcibly rotated her neck to the side, away from officers.

The woman was accompanied by her friend. CCTV footage showed the woman’s friend bending down towards her before the officer pushed her away. The friend responded by pushing the officer. He retaliated by pushing her again.

Another man approached the incident and stood watching the restraint of the woman on the ground. He pushed a security officer and an attending police officer. The man was arrested for assaulting an emergency worker. A physical altercation took place which resulted in the man falling to the ground and being restrained by a number of officers.

While on the ground, the officer subject to our investigation delivered a knee strike to the man. Once the man was lifted up, it became apparent he had sustained an open wound to his forehead during the altercation.

We took statements from security staff, custody staff, and police officers who responded to the incident. Police records, CCTV, body worn video footage, and relevant local and national policies and procedures were obtained and reviewed. The officer was interviewed under misconduct as well as criminal caution.

The officer resigned before the final report was concluded in September 2022. It was found there was no case to answer for misconduct and the case was not referred to the Crown Prosecution Service.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. We did not identify any organisational learning in this case.