South Australia’s Attorney-General and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher has spoken to the state’s police commissioner following “confrontational” footage taken during an arrest near Port Augusta at the weekend.

WARNING: This story contains footage of an incident that readers may find disturbing.

What happened?

On Saturday November 16, police officers visited a home in Davenport, near Port Augusta, about 310 kilometers north-west of Adelaide.

A 42-year-old man was arrested and charged with obstructing and assaulting police.

He was bailed to appear in Port Augusta Magistrates’ Court on February 6.

On Monday, November 18, images of the arrest were shared on social media.

What does the video show?

The two videos, shared on Facebook, show a man talking to police before being forced into a wall.

Then he collapses to the ground.

A second video shows the same man being dragged down a concrete path by a police officer before being detained and arrested.

Has a complaint been made?

A formal complaint has been filed regarding the incident.

Under the Police Complaints and Discipline Act, the media are generally unable to report information relating to a complaint.

“As this incident is the subject of a complaint, the Police Complaints and Discipline Act would normally prohibit the disclosure or publication of information in relation to it,” SA Police said in a statement.

Police said body-worn camera footage from the officers involved “has been fully reviewed and police are assessing all the circumstances of this incident.”

What has been the response so far?

The ABC has contacted the man’s family for comment.

Adelaide barrister Andrew Carpenter said while he did not see what happened before the video was shot, the alleged victim did not appear to be a threat and other officers could have defused the situation.

“On the face of it, it doesn’t pass the pub test,” he said.

Mr Carpenter often said it was not known whether police were disciplined, even after their actions were deemed illegal, because of the way the Police Complaints and Discipline Act works.

“It is exempt from publication, the findings cannot be provided even with a court order,” he said.

“They are the only organization in the state that governs itself.

“It is in the public interest to warn when officers have been found guilty (of) crimes.”

Mr. Carpenter recommended that anyone who believes they have been subjected to excessive force by a police officer contact a lawyer.

“The police don’t have the ability to attack people,” he said.

“They have the ability to act within certain legal guidelines, and when they violate those guidelines, the police are held accountable for the officers’ actions.”

How did the government respond?

Attorney General and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher said he had spoken to both local community members and police about the incident.

“I have been contacted by a number of Aboriginal leaders and community members over the past 24 hours with concerns about the filming. I understand those concerns,” Mr Maher said.

He said he spoke to the police commissioner on Tuesday following those conversations.

“I have been assured that this will be thoroughly investigated under the Police Complaints and Discipline Act process,” Mr Maher said.

Education Minister Blair Boyer described the vision as “confrontational”.

“We have a very strong framework in place here in South Australia about how things like complaints against the police are assessed and what action is taken,” Boyer said.

Mr Boyer said that, “for the most part, our police services in South Australia” were held in “very, very high regard”.

“And when matters like this come up or a vision like this comes up, what needs to be done is provided to the police for assessment,” he said.

“This may or may not proceed to further investigation, but it is very important that this takes its course. I don’t want to do anything to prevent that and we’ll wait for the outcome.”

Police Minister Dan Cregan said he had confidence in detailed processes for investigating complaints against the police.

“In accordance with the (Police Complaints and Discipline) Act, I am not able to offer any further comment, nor would I wish to, as I would risk prejudicing the investigation,” he said.

“But I can say that South Australians should be reassured that there is a thorough investigation into police complaints.

“I understand that the Police Commissioner has also indicated that he may choose to release further information in relation to this matter once the investigation is complete.”