David William Black is alleged to have grabbed a prisoner by the neck and kneed him in the face in October 2013.
The 48-year-old, whose address was given as the Tayside Division Bell Street police headquarters in Dundee, pleaded not guilty to two summary charges at Forfar Sheriff Court.
A trial date was set for February 2016.
Fiscal depute Mohamad Sadiq said the case was "sensitive" and that it was anticipated the trial would run for two days.
A Police Scotland officer is to stand trial accused of assaulting a man in a cell at Arbroath Police Office.