A pre-Ferguson example of the lawlessness of the St Louis MO police in video recently made available to the media.
Police dash cam video released as a result of a lawsuit claiming excessive force appears to show St. Louis police officers allegedly beating up a driver before one of the cops tells another officer to "hold up" so they can turn the video off.
The incident happened in April 2014, when Cortez Bufford was pulled over, accused of speeding and making an illegal U-turn, Bufford's attorney Joel Schwartz told ABC News...
The video was first obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Schwartz said Bufford was kicked in the head and tazed.
In the video, one officer allegedly says, "Everybody hold up. We're red right now," before allegedly turning off the dash cam.
The term "red" is used by police to describe a running camera, Schwartz said.
Bufford was taken to the hospital and then jail, according to his lawyer. The charges against him –- a felony weapon offense and a misdemeanor for resisting arrest –- were later dropped.
St. Louis cops under fire for pausing dashcam moments after assault (VIDEO)
"Just as in every case, the Circuit Attorney's Office continued an investigation into the incident regarding Cortez Bufford after charges were filed. As standard procedure, prosecutors requested a copy of the police dash-cam video, which was not available at the time of the initial warrant application.
"Several prosecutors reviewed the video and were concerned to see the intentional deactivation of the dash-cam video. The office immediately reported this concern to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Internal Affairs Division and to the sergeant of the officer involved.
"Additionally, prosecutors conducted a separate review to determine if any police conduct depicted on the video rose to the level of criminal activity. The review process included thorough interviews of the officers present during the incident. Subsequently, the Circuit Attorney's Office concluded the conduct did not violate Missouri law. In August 2014, the office dismissed charges against Mr. Bufford."