Atlanta cops put on leave after being filmed kicking handcuffed woman in the head

Two Atlanta cops have been put on leave after video emerged showing one of them kicking a handcuffed woman in the head as she lay on the ground.

The woman was being detained on Monday afternoon after police were called to an apartment in the city’s Summerhill neighborhood for a domestic incident, according to Atlanta Uncensored, which posted the footage online.

In the disturbing seven-second clip, the prostate woman, whose hands are cuffed behind her back, appears to spit on a sergeant’s boots and pants. The sergeant responds by kicking the woman once in the face while his partner stands by and does nothing to stop him.

“Upon reviewing the video, the actions of the sergeant appear to be unacceptable and we are also concerned with the apparent lack of reaction from another officer present during the incident,” Atlanta police said in a statement  Monday.

The sergeant was placed on unpaid suspension while the officer was put on administrative assignment, according to department officials, who declined to identify the duo.

Police Chief Rodney Bryant will determine the “proper course of action” once the ongoing investigation into the incident is complete, police said.

“The actions of those in the video appear to fall outside our standards,” Atlanta police said.

The officers had been responding to a call about a woman pointing a gun at several people. The woman was later taken to hospital for an evaluation after offficers detaining her “became concerned” about her mental health, Atlanta police said.

The woman, who was not charged, has been named by her family as “Ashley.”

Ashley’s neighbor, who filmed the incident and did not wish to be named, told CBS46 that she saw the officers kick her more than once. 

“They actually kicked her down the hill and she went rolling,’ she said. “She was spitting at the officer and then she had already spit on him once before but it didn’t get on him, so she spit on him again and it got on his boots and that’s when he decided to kick her in the face.”