Newly-released footage of shocking police brutality on the Gold Coast, in addition to the recent police killing of a 65-year-old man during an arrest, has led to a wave of criticism against the Queensland Police Service.

These latest cases of violence coincide with a spike in the number of official complaints about police brutality and harassment, according to the Brisbane Times, and have prompted an investigation by the state’s Crime and Corruption Commission.

One of the videos shows Braydon Aaron Mechen standing with a friend outside a Surfers Paradise nightclub in September 2014. Police suddenly seized him for no apparent reason. After resisting, Mechen was kneed in the ribs, handcuffed and punched in the face.

In January, youth worker Ray Currier, who was trying to de-escalate a friend’s altercation with police on the street, was slammed into the concrete, held down by five police officers, and knocked out cold by a punch to the head.

In June, Gold Coast police officer Rick Flori was sacked and charged with misconduct for leaking footage of fellow officers severely beating a handcuffed 21-year-old Noa Begic.