A video of police using excessive force to restrain a teenager in Taupō has outraged family and witnesses who say they are "disgusted" with officers' behaviour.
A boy, who Newshub understands is 14 years old, was filmed as he was restrained by three officers outside Taupō Dairy on Ruapehu St on May 2. One officer puts their knee on the boy's neck while the other two put handcuffs on him. A bystander is heard shouting "get off him".
Witness Terina Wall was walking down Ruapehu St at about 4:26pm the day of the arrest when she saw a group of youths standing outside with three officers. She told Newshub when she got there, there was "no disruption" coming from the teens, nor was there any swearing.
The boy seen in the video was standing at the window and asking officers for his vape back before they restrained him, Wall says. He wasn't trying to make physical contact with police.
"I saw one police officer walk up to him, grab his wrist, and they told him you're going to need to walk away. They should've tried verbally to give him warnings," she says.
The boy reacted after the officer grabbed his wrist.
"The young fella had turned around and told the police to piss off. He turned back around to keep asking for his vape and that's when the officer used excessive force."
The part of the incident shown in the video happened after all but one of the boys was detained by police and were in the police car. The 14-year-old's mother said in a message to a relative the teens were detained for having "fake guns with the orange tips". Wall says she didn't see or hear any imitation guns.
When the teen was pinned to the ground, all Wall says she heard was him shouting "you're hurting me".
"That's when I started yelling at police saying you don't need to put that much pressure on his neck," she says.
"He wasn't trying to get away from the cops, he was just trying to tell him he was hurting. He was just trying to keep himself safe."
The teen was "going with the motions" and wasn't trying to resist arrest, she adds. Police put his knee on the teen's neck not once but twice during the incident.
As the teen was pinned to the ground, he started swearing and told police to "get the f*ck off him" because he was hurting.
The boy's mother says the officer's knee was putting him in such intense pain which is why he swore.
The act of the officer putting a knee on the boy's neck is similar to how US man George Floyd died in May last year. In a confrontation that was also captured on video, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine minutes during an arrest. Chauvin has been convicted of murdering Floyd and faces further charges.
Wall says she knew if she tried to intervene, she'd "probably be done" for obstructing an officer.
"I stood on the pavement where I knew I had freedom of speech. I told officers I didn't know [the teens] but told them they used excessive force," she says.
"This isn't right, you don't just get away with these things.
"The hardest thing to comprehend is this is generational. It hasn't just come in 2021, our people have put up with this for far too long."
The teen's mother says she is "disgusted" by how the officers handled the situation.
"There was no need for force and the way they treated him, nor the way they treated me when I picked him up," she says.
"I didn't even get a phone call he was arrested - everything was via text."
Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Andy McGregor told Newshub in a statement police are aware of the video circulating social media showing police attending the incident.
"Officers responded to a call from a member of the community who reported a group of males had a firearm in a public place. Police seized two imitation firearms," he says.
"Police will be reviewing the circumstances that led to the arrest procedure and the actions of staff involved.
"As this matter has been self-referred by Police to the IPCA, we are unable to comment any further."
Wall says a peaceful protest against "lawless behaviour" has been organised for May 22 at 1pm outside Taupō Police Station.
