http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-ferguson-police-20150218-story.html

Violent St. Louis arrest caught on camera until cops switch device off

Amid arrest caught on camera, St. Louis police shout 'Hold up. We're red right now'

By Tribune wire reports
February 19, 2015, 7:00 AM St. Louis

A recently released video of an arrest in which St. Louis police are accused of using excessive force shows officers pulling a resisting suspect from a car, kicking him and shocking him with a stun gun before the camera is shut off abruptly.

The dashboard camera video ends after an officer involved in the April 2014 arrest of Cortez Bufford yells, in part, "Everybody hold up. We're red right now!" the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this week.

(Altercation begins at about 5:55 in video above)

Joel Schwartz and Bevis Schock, the attorneys who filed suit on behalf of Bufford last month in St. Louis Circuit Court, say "red" is cop slang for a running camera. They say the video, which they released, supports their case that police lacked probable cause and applied excessive force in the arrest. The charges against Bufford of unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest were later dropped.

A circuit attorney's spokeswoman, Susan Ryan, told the newspaper the case was dismissed because "the action of turning off the dash cam video diminished the evidentiary merits of the case." She also said a review showed the officers did not break the law.

A police spokeswoman told KTVI-TV that the officer who turned off the camera "has been recommended" for discipline but is appealing.

A lawyer for the St. Louis Police Officers' Association insists the video reflects a proper escalation of force applied against a resisting suspect who reached for a gun.

The stop followed 911 reports of shots fired. Five minutes later, according to a police report, two officers watched as a silver Ford Taurus made an "illegal" U-turn and "abruptly parked." One officer searched and handcuffed the passenger as the other talked through the car window with Bufford, the driver, the report said.

One officer wrote of smelling marijuana and seeing "plastic baggies and a green leafy substance." Bufford "became agitated," one officer wrote, refused to give his name and reached for a pants pocket before the officer warned him to keep his hands in view. Bufford refused orders to get out, and an officer called for backup when Bufford became "increasingly hostile," according to the report.

The report said that after an officer maneuvered Bufford to the ground, Bufford struggled and reached for his pocket. The video shows officers struggling with Bufford as another arrives and kicks at him. The police report says an officer administered a "foot strike" to keep Bufford from reaching his weapon.

Bufford hit and kicked several officers, the report says, before another officer "administered a foot strike" to the leg, and Bufford was jolted with a Taser twice.

After he was handcuffed, a semi-automatic pistol was recovered.

The St. Louis Police Department has a small number of dashboard cameras and no body cameras. State lawmakers are considering measures that would require police to wear such cameras, a response to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by an officer in Ferguson in August.

Associated Press

Was smoking pot and had it visible
Made an illegal u-turn
Resisted arrest and wouldn't get out of the car

I'd say he got what he deserved. Did the other guy get beat? No? Because he cooperated.

the cops? who were caught on video trying to cover up their actions during the arrest?

they're not credible.

That said, the police should be expected to react like the fucking police, not a gang. This whole notion that there are legit reasons to do shit like this is reprehensible. Yes, cops should be held to a higher standard than Street Goon #5.

So while I’m not exactly shedding tears for this guy, the cops are dead wrong and this should chill everyone to their core because it’s just another shining example that a lot of these pricks really do get their rocks off by flexing and overstepping their authority. This shouldn’t be condoned for any reason.

'Hold up, hold up. Everybody hold up. We're red right now, so if you're worried about cameras just wait.'

^ what in the holy fuck?

get these cops. that's some bullshit.

8 cops stomping one dude out is excessive but he did resist initially so the cops wouldn't have had any problems with the arrest. They just couldn't help themselves, just like a gang.

I mean, why turn off the cam after a belligerent suspect is safely in custody unless you were planning on continuing your beat down on a handcuffed suspect?

or was it pulling over and parking did they say?

I don't doubt that they fit some sort of discription...

I hate that we have to debate the guilt or innoncence of suspects

in order to say this is wrong

this is wrong.

If they had not done this bullshit with turning off the camera, I don't know if I'd find their other actions unjustified. I think a lot would depend on (like you said) which came first - the cops realizing that this car may match the description of one from a shooting, or the illegal U-turn.

by the obvious attempted cover-up.

so anything they say about what happened is not credible, IMO.

the cops say homie had a gun and was reaching for it. uh huh. sure. and they found the gun AFTER the camera was turned off, right? yeah. okay.

no credibility.

it's all suspect these days

Cortez
Demarco
Deanthony

Yup all bad news names

Since 1976

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/16/1364713/-St-Louis-Police-Mayor-did-everything-they-could-for-you-to-not-see-this-video-of-police-brutality

so apparently this all happened BEFORE Ferguson and they've been trying to hide it, and it is weird after all that no charges were filed, lol