Thousands of hours of police video footage from the G20 protests will be studied for possible incidents of police brutality or misconduct.

Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, ordered the review yesterday, amid mounting concerns that the emergence of material showing police hitting out at demonstrators is undermining public confidence in policing. The Met will refer any serious cases of misconduct it uncovers to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for its assessment.

Sir Paul said that video footage involving apparent assaults on Ian Tomlinson, who died in the City of London on April 1, and Nicky Fisher, who was struck twice by an officer the next day, was clearly disturbing. Two officers from the Met’s Territorial Support Group (TSG), its specialist public order unit, have been suspended pending investigations by the IPCC.

The commission has begun a full inquiry into the death of Mr Tomlinson, 47, a newspaper vendor, who died from a heart attack minutes after being hit and pushed to the ground by an officer.

Ms Fisher, 35, who works at an animal sanctuary and lives in Brighton, told the Daily Mail: “I had gone to protest about climate change. That’s my main thing. I really love animals and that’s what I’m worried about.

“When I got hit I was trying to get to the vigil for the dead protester. I wanted to pay my respects. We couldn’t get through — the police had blocked us off. I was trying to get through and couldn’t. The policeman pushed me and I pushed him back. Then he hit me in the face. He hit me with the back of his hand.

“There wasn’t any bruising or marks on my face. He was wearing a glove. On my legs I could see marks on the day but they came up a lot worse the next day. My boyfriend took pictures at the protest. I had black bruises on my legs the next day which were very bad.”

Ms Fisher is reported to be trying to sell her story for £50,000, having hired Max Clifford, the publicist.

Sir Paul, in a significant intervention into the controversy over G20 policing, also expressed concerns about pictures in which officers appeared to have covered up their police numbers. “Uniformed police officers should be identifiable at all times by their shoulder identification numbers,” Sir Paul said. “The public has a right to be able to identify any uniformed officer whilst performing their duty.”

The Commissioner has also asked Denis O’Connor, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, to examine the controversial “kettle” tactic used to contain 5,000 demonstrators around the Bank of England on April 1.

“G20 was a complex policing operation, managing the movement and protection of many heads of state across the capital while balancing the right to lawful protest and maintaining public order for many thousands of people,” Sir Paul said. “It is also the case that a number of complaints have been raised in relation to the tactic of containment and as to whether this achieves that balance. I want to be reassured that the use of this tactic remains appropriate and proportionate.”

The IPCC has received 145 complaints about police activity during the G20 protests. About 40 are ineligible because they have been made by people who have seen footage on television. Another 40 relate to police tactics and 70 are from alleged victims or witnesses to police violence.

Deborah Glass, the commissioner leading the G20 inquiries, said that the IPCC wanted to hear directly from Ms Fisher. “It is appropriate to use our own investigators to deal with this latest incident arising from the policing operation relating to the G20 summit,” she said. “I have taken this decision bearing in mind the death of Ian Tomlinson and the volume of complaints made by the public about the actions and tactics of the police service during the policing of the G20 demonstrations. The police service operates by consent and it is important that the public can be confident that the complaints system is robust and proportionate in dealing with incidents that threaten public confidence.”

The policing of the demonstrations is also to be examined at two meetings this month of the Metropolitan Police Authority, bringing to four the number of reviews currently in progress.

Kit Malthouse, vice-chairman of the authority, welcomed the Met Commissioner’s announcement. He said: “It is vital that the police retain the trust of Londoners and a thorough review by the HMIC will be crucial to help inform conclusions about how public order events should be policed in the future. The most recent footage of G20 is alarming and I fully support the commissioner referring the matter to the IPCC and suspending the officer concerned pending the outcome of the independent investigation.

“While we take this matter extremely seriously, it is worth pointing out that the Metropolitan Police are responsible for maintaining public order during dozens of protests throughout the year. The vast majority pass off peacefully. Nevertheless, we cannot afford to skate over even isolated incidents and must get to the truth and learn the lessons of both this incident, that involving Ian Tomlinson, and the G20 generally.”

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, welcomed the review of public order tactics, saying that there were “obvious areas of concern”. She added: “This is consistent with the police’s commitment to continually review and examine their operations, so they can continue to meet the difficult challenge of balancing people’s rights to peaceful protest while keeping the peace and maintaining public safety.”

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: “This timely statement from the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner will be welcomed by all Londoners. We welcome his remarks on peaceful protest and on officers being identifiable. We also welcome his comments on the worrying tactic of ‘kettling’ large groups of demonstrators. It seems to us that this practice risks increasing anger, increasing distress and increasing rather than diffusing any threat to public safety.”

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