Outrage as video emerges of male police officer 'groping' distressed woman's breasts during arrest

A disturbing video has emerged which appears to show a male police officer touching a woman's breasts during an arrest.

The footage shows the police officer repeatedly touching her breasts while she is handcuffed and requesting a female officer.

In the 15-second clip, we see the officer run his hands over her chest twice, and the woman is heard saying "I want a female officer" at least three times repeatedly.

The person filming the incident can also be heard saying "Don't you f***ing touch her like that" and "Get your f***ing hands off her" , saying she's being "manhandled".

The video was released on Twitter yesterday by user @_SJPeace_ who is a Pakistani-American civil rights activist based in Detroit.

He claimed the officer filmed is with the police department in Austin, Texas, and referred to the incident as "sexual assault, plain and simple".

According to the Austin Police Department's Policy Manual, officers must conduct person searches "with dignity and courtesy".

It also states than officers should explain to the person being searched the reason for the search and how the search will be conducted, and lays out the following guidelines for instances where the person being searched is of a different gender to the officer:

Officers needing to search a person of the opposite gender should do so in front of a Mobile Audio Video (MAV) recording system, if available; otherwise an officer of the same gender as the person should be requested.

According to a GoFundMe page, the woman in question is named Linda Nuno, and she was at a protest earlier that day.

The user who set up the fundraiser also appears to have posted the video to an Instagram page, which alleges that the woman had a personal relationship with the officer in the video, although it's unclear whether there's any basis to these claims, as Nuno doesn't seem to have spoken out on the issue.

The Austin Police Department has issued a statement on Twitter, referring to the woman as Rosalinda Nuno Trevino.

The statement alleges that Trevino was arrested for "multiple hazardous traffic violations [including] running a red light, failure to yield right-of-way to pedestrians, improper use of a horn and failure to maintain an assured clear distance".

It also says that the officer advised Trevino that a female officer was not available, and conducted the search as per the police guidelines stated above, and included screenshots of the specific clauses which make his actions permissible.

It's unclear from the video whether these protocols were followed, but given the woman in the video appears visibly distressed, the original poster added that even if this is allowed, it really shouldn't be.

Many echoed this sentiment.

The APD has not addressed the allegations of a personal history between Trevino and the officer.