Police are defending an officer's use of force during riots in Whangamatā, in which a youth was kicked in the back.
Photo: 123RF
Video footage shows a young person sitting on a post as police tried to clear crowds, before being kicked in the back by an advancing officer.
Inspector Dean Anderson, the Eastern Waikato area commander, said in a statement that the incident was not desirable, but sometimes force is required.
He said the person in the clip was warned several times but refused to move.
Anderson said it was lucky that police involved in the rioting were not seriously injured as young people threw bottles and damaged property.
Police needed to clear the area because a group of young people had been violent and disorderly, he said.
He said several young women had been carried out of the area with head lacerations and youths were continuing to damage property.
Those who remained in the area were "intoxicated and belligerent, and refusing to move on," he said.
