In December 2015, a video emerged on social media that showed two policemen in a violent incident in Kununurra, in far north WA, where one of the officers appears to strike a woman in front of onlookers.
Isaiah Barney, who filmed the incident, told AAP at the time the scene left him "absolutely shocked".
"One officer was on her legs and the other officer was on her back and shoulders so hard," he says.
"I was looking at her – it was hard for her to breathe – and then I started recording."
A spokesperson for Western Australia Police Media said in a statement on Thursday that a police complaint internal investigation found the officer's actions were justified under the circumstances.
The spokesperson says evidence supported the officer’s account that the woman was biting him, and he resorted to "appropriate force to protect himself".
They further say the incident was only partially filmed and two officers received other injuries when rocks and bottles were thrown at them from a crowd.
The woman has now been charged with two counts of assaulting a public officer over alleged attacks on both police.