Facebook photos of John Gds Martin, who posted the secretly filmed video of a police officer on his page.
The 45-second video shows an officer responding aggressively to comments made by the member of the public filming the incident.
The man was stopped by the first-class constable for riding a bike without a helmet in Forrestfield about 2.30pm on Tuesday.
At a press conference in Perth on Wednesday morning police confirmed they were investigating a video posted on Facebook by 'John Gds Martin' and that the constable had been spoken to by his direct supervisor.
Inspector Dom Wood said the officer could have dealt with the situation in a more appropriate manner.
"The officer has admitted he could have dealt with things more appropriately and he is going to be spoken to about that," he said.
"We have to make it quite clear that this is a small snippet we saw on Facebook, we haven't seen the entirety of the incident so we have to look into it further.
"This is extremely rare, we don't get these incidents too often.
"This officer has come across someone who has pushed his buttons and tried to get a reaction.
"The officer wouldn't have known he was being recorded in those circumstances."
Inspector Wood would not rule out WA Police taking disciplinary action against the officer.
WA Police Union president George Tilbury
said the work of a police officer could sometimes be stressful and
agreed that the full circumstances of this particular incident were not
yet known.
"Our members interact with the public 24
hours a day, seven days a week and on some of these occasions the
situation can be quite frustrating and stressful," he said.
"As the full video has not been uploaded
and the entirety of the circumstances are unknown, it is very difficult
to comment on the actions of the officer.
"However, police officers should always
do their utmost to portray a professional image, which can be difficult
given that they are under more scrutiny than any other profession.
"Our members need to be aware that in
this modern age of technology their actions and interactions with the
public will be filmed, often without their knowledge or permission.”
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