Video shows police bashing young dad Noa Begic with young dad and chef Noa Begic in the basement of Surfers Paradise police station, where he is kneed and punched while his hands are cuffed behind his back.
Mr Begic, 21, has pleaded not guilty to charges of public nuisance and obstructing police - saying he was arrested for singing in the street after having a few drinks with friends.
The bashing happened about two weeks ago.
Today, Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said the incident had been subject to investigation since February 6, although the officer was only stood down from operational duties today.
He said the disciplinary action was not a result of media coverage.
Mr Atkinson said officers on the Gold Coast are called on to deal with a higher rate of public nuisance offences - and that sometimes punching someone in the head is "justified’’.
He said a third of Gold Coast police officers are assaulted in the line of duty and of the 600 to 700 complaints against police officers made each year, most are unsubstantiated.
You have to police according to the circumstances, Mr Atkinson said.
“People can become desensitised when dealing with violence and difficult situations over and over,” he said.
“Sometimes their judgment can be frayed.”
When asked if punching somebody in the head could be justified, Mr Atkinson said “of course”.
“It would depend on the circumstances and as to whether that use of force - punching someone in the head - was necessary and justifiable.”
Earlier, the victim of the brutal police bashing captured on CCTV at a Gold Coast police station made the chilling claims the worst of the violence took place out of the camera's view and officers taunted him that his injuries were "merely a flesh wound".
Noa Begic, 21, was arrested in the early hours of January 29 for being a public nuisance during a night out with friends.
Minutes later he was taken to the basement of Surfers Paradise police station, where surveillance footage obtained by The Courier Mail shows him being beaten bloody.
A senior officer even uses a bucket to wash away a pool of Mr Begic's blood.
The chef and father-of-one has only now watched the footage for the first time.
"It's pretty brutal," he said.
"Unfortunately there wasn't a camera around the corner because it would have shown what happened before we came in to view.
"I was already bleeding from punches when they pulled me out of the squad car.
"The part just before this video starts is where I get a few really good blows to the head so I was already quite dizzy by this stage.
"By the end I was pretty relieved just to make it to the wagon to get out of their grasp."
Even after he was locked in the back of a police wagon it still wasn't over.
An officer returned to deliver a few more punches and the door opens again a short time later.
"He leaned in and called me racist names and said 'it was only a flesh wound'," said Mr Begic.
"By the end you can actually see a pool of blood from my nose and mouth if you look close enough.
"And now you can see him washing away my blood.
"At least they're covering their tracks well."