Translation of Der Standard article from Feb. 18

Lawyer outraged at Police

Strange Conclusions drawn in the Brennan case

Vienna-The Vienna Police Labor Union has obviously drawn its own conclusions about the “Brennan Case”. For the labor representatives “some of the accusations are not excusable but are explainable”, they shared in a release on Tuesday. The reason they are explainable is that there were 303 cases of on the job police injuries last year. “The scene is getting harder by the day…the police officers have to think about their security too,” the union concluded.

What does Mike Brennan, who was attacked and injured last Wednesday in the subway station Spittelau, according to him, without either warning or the officers identifying themselves, have to do with this? The police officers mistook him for someone from “the scene” the Police Department admits.

They released their own conclusion which is just as strange as that of the Labor Union. According to the release, every person is obligated to cooperate with police, had Mr. Brennan complied with this obligation, the misunderstanding could have been resolved relatively quickly.

The lawyer for Mr. Brennan finds this claim to be outrageous. “How could my client have clarified the misunderstanding after they had already jumped him and started beating him?” It took 3 minutes for one of the police officers to yell “Police, Police,” and neither reacted to Mr. Brennan’s partner’s request for identification, at first. It also remains unclear if an apology by the police has been issued or not. The answer to that question is “no” his lawyer told the Austrian Press Agency.

Reputation of the Agency intact

No disciplinary action has been taken against the officers involved thus far. They have not been suspended since neither the “reputation of the agency nor the profession of police officers” have been damaged, the spokesperson says. In the Haidinger case this argument was one of the reasons for indefinite suspension.