A police officer has been suspended after distressing footage showed him ordering a dog to attack a kneeling black man with his arms in the air.

Bodycam video of the incident show Jeffrey Ryans, who fears he could lose his leg as a result, pleading: “I’m on the ground, why are you biting me?”

Policeman Nickolas Pearce, from Salt Lake City, Utah, US, had been heard shouting “hit” as an instruction to the dog.

Mr Ryans says he intends to sue police, claiming the mauling was racially-motivated.

Pearce is heard telling the 36-year-old railway engineer: “Get on the ground or you’re gonna get bit.”

And just six seconds later, he ordered the dog to attack, despite Mr Ryans kneeling with his arms in the air.