Video:
St. Louis Cop Turns Off Dash Cam as Officers Kick Driver
In Missouri, a St. Louis police
officer has been suspended after turning off a dashboard camera as her
colleagues were kicking and tasing an African-American man during a traffic
stop. Cortez Bufford has filed suit against police over the April arrest. Video
shows police dragging Bufford from the car, then kicking and tasing him. At one
point he shouts, "I can’t move." Then, using the slang term "red,"
to mean the dashboard camera is rolling, Officer Kelli Swinton tells her
colleagues to wait while she turns it off.
Kelli Swinton: "Hold up!
Hold up, y’all! Hold up! Hold up! Everybody hold up. We’re red right now, so if
you guys are worried about cameras, just wait."
The video then abruptly stops.
Police, who had received a call about shots fired in the area, accused Bufford
of speeding, making an illegal U-turn and abruptly parking. They say an officer
kicked him to prevent him from reaching for a gun, which they say they found in
his pocket. But all charges against Bufford were dropped after the prosecutor
saw the footage. Police Chief Sam Dotson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he
does not believe the officers did anything wrong. In addition to Swinton, he suspended
a sergeant who was supervising the scene — for one day.
Man
sues police for turning off dashcam during arrest
Technically Incorrect: In St.
Louis, the use of cameras offers another controversy. A man claims police tried
to cover up alleged rough treatment as they arrested him.
by Chris Matyszczyk
We're all filming each other, a
habit that can come in very useful when we encounter officers of the law.
Especially if they insist that
the frisbee in our car is a sure sign that we're a pot smoker.
It's not, though, as if
injustice only flies in one direction. The police, too, are increasingly using
cameras to prove their side of incidents. Recently, police in Arizona released
chilling bodycam footage of an incident in which an officer died to show the
everyday perils of their job.
The use of cameras, though,
remains imperfect. It remains open to abuse. In St. Louis, for example, a man
who was arrested is reportedly suing the local police force because footage
seems to show the police deliberately turning off their dashcam after they had
manhandled him to the ground.
As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
reported, video from the scene -- the dashcam wasn't the only camera rolling --
has the audio of a female officer saying: "Hold up, everybody, hold up.
We're red right now so if you guys are worried about cameras just wait."
The phrase "red right
now" is said to refer to the light signal of a camera rolling. The Dispatch
identified the officer as Kelli Swinton. KTVI-TV identified Swinton as having
been named Officer of the Year in 2013.
The arrest of Cortez Bufford
happened last April. His vehicle was stopped, as it was allegedly speeding and
performed an illegal u-turn, as well as having some vague resemblance to a car
identified as being connected to a shooting.
What ensued was police
allegedly smelling marijuana in Bufford's car, his alleged refusal to get out
of it, the police's allegedly observing a gun in his pocket and a forcible
removal of Bufford from his car, after which he was allegedly assaulted. Police
also used their Taser on him.
Bufford's lawyer says that
excessive force was used on his client. Moreover, he told KTVI: "The
probable cause statement was simply made up." He added: "Our client
wasn't speeding, he didn't make an illegal U-turn and he didn't abruptly pull
to the curb. Those are all figments of the officer's imagination."
The video that does exist
appears to show the police kicking Bufford. Police say they found a 9mm gun on
Bufford and live rounds, as well as marijuana.
Oddly, the criminal case
against Bufford was dropped last August. The original incident report accused
him of "assault of a law enforcement officer (intimidation)," as well
as unlawful use of a weapon and marijuana possession.
A spokeswoman for the Circuit
Attorney's office told the Dispatch that the case was dropped because "the
action of turning off the dashcam video diminished the evidentiary merits of
the case."
One can imagine that, in an
instance where an officer was seen allegedly trying to influence the evidence
that might be presented, any other evidence presented might have a slight odor
to it.
I contacted the St. Louis
Metropolitan Police Department to ask for its reaction to the fact that the
case was dropped and to wonder just what discipline Swinton might have been
recommended for. I was referred to the office of the mayor.
City Counselor Winston Calvert
told me: "The officers were confronted with an individual who refused to
comply with police officers, and was reaching for a semi-automatic gun. In
these circumstances, the officers acted with appropriate force in making the
arrest. The officers did what was necessary to protect themselves and to
protect the public from a man who was kicking, punching, and reaching for a
gun."
However, he added: "The
Police Department's policy required that the officers leave the dash camera on.
An Internal Affairs Investigation found that an officer violated that policy
and should be disciplined. The officer is currently appealing the
discipline."
Dashcam units used by the St.
Louis Police Department have a 90-second post-event buffer. This means they
(should) continue to record after the stop button has been pushed. However,
lawyers for the officers contend that nothing more happened than the action
visible on the video.
The case brings up many facets
regarding the use of cameras in law enforcement.
It took a long time for this
footage to even emerge. Some police forces believe that such footage isn't
necessarily public property, as there may be privacy issues involved with
respect to those who are featured in videos. Moreover, KTVI reported that the
Missouri Attorney General, Chris Koster, is in favor of ensuring that all
bodycam and in-car camera footage be kept from public eyes.
As more and more footage is
taken, who will be tasked with keeping it all anyway?
This case, though, highlights
the possibility of subterfuge. If footage appears to be incomplete, will there
be a natural assumption that an officer tampered with it? Very probably.
What's interesting in Swinton's
alleged actions here is the sheer normality with which she suggests turning off
the camera. It sounds like something that might, just might, have happened
before once or twice. She doesn't even seem concerned that her words may be
themselves recorded.
Why is it that she might think
that the other officers were worried about cameras? Why, if she had any doubt
at all, did she still go ahead and turn the camera off?
When it comes to technology,
there is always someone who is at its controls. The question is, who should be?
St.
Louis officer under fire for turning off dashcam video during arrest
By AnneClaire Stapleton, Sonia
Moghe and Dana Ford, CNN
• Police say Cortez Bufford refused to get out of his car as
ordered
• Another dashcam video shows officers kicking Bufford as
he's on the ground
• Bufford had a loaded handgun in his pants, police say
(CNN)A St. Louis man has filed
a lawsuit alleging excessive force in a case that involves an officer turning
off a dashcam that was recording the man's arrest.
At one point in the video from
the dashcam, a female officer can be heard saying: "Hold up, everybody,
hold up. We're red right now so if you guys are worried about cameras just
wait."
The phrase "we're red
right now" indicates that a camera is recording.
A second dashcam continued to
record.
Video of the April arrest shows
officers stopping a vehicle being driven by Cortez Bufford, whose car roughly
matched the description of one possibly involved in an area shooting.
As officers approached the
vehicle, they ordered Bufford and his passenger to show their hands. They did.
According to the police report,
one officer smelled marijuana and saw what looked to be plastic baggies full of
a leafy green substance.
The passenger was ordered from
the vehicle, and he was handcuffed without incident.
Bufford was also ordered to
exit the vehicle, but he refused and became increasingly agitated, according to
the report. He was then removed.
While officers attempted to
place him in handcuffs, one saw the handle of a handgun sticking out of
Bufford's right front pocket. According to the report, Bufford was seen
reaching for the weapon.
The video then shows officers
kicking Bufford while he is on the ground. According to his suit, Bufford
suffered abrasions to his fingers, face, back, head, ears and neck. He was
handcuffed after an officer used a Taser on him.
A loaded handgun was later
removed from Bufford's pocket.
An attorney representing the
city and the police department defended the officers' actions in the arrest,
while condemning the officer who turned off the dashcam, which is against
department policy.
"The officers were not
acting out of line at any time during the arrest. The person involved in this
altercation had a semi-automatic gun, and the officers were protecting
themselves and the public. They did what had to be done to protect
themselves," Winston Calvert told CNN.
He said the use of force and
the dashcam issues are separate. The officer who shut off the dashcam video was
referred to an internal affairs department, Calvert said.
"The city's Police
Department has a policy on the use of dash cameras and other cameras, and the
Police Department special order says the cameras should be left on until the
event is concluded. When we saw that an officer had violated that policy, it
was very disappointing," he said. "The internal affairs recommended
discipline for the officer, which is what happened."
Because the case is still open
to appeal, Calvert declined to say what the punishment was. He said the
officer, who he identified as Kelli Swinton, remains on the job while her
appeal is underway. A call to the officer's lawyer was not returned.
Attorney Joel Schwartz, who
represents Bufford, is urging reform.
All of the charges against his
client have been dismissed. According to a statement from St. Louis prosecutor
Jennifer M. Joyce, the "action of turning off the dash camera video
diminished the evidentiary merits of the case."
"I don't think an officer
on the scene should have the capability to stop the camera from rolling.
Otherwise it defeats the entire purpose of having body cameras and/or
dashcams," Schwartz said.
CNN's Alina Machado contributed
to this report.
St.
Louis police officer warns cops to turn off camera during controversial arrest
A St. Louis Metropolitan Police
Department officer calls out, 'Hold up. Hold up, y'all. Hold up. Hold up,
everybody, hold up. We're red right now, so if you guys are worried about
cameras, just wait,' just before camera gets turned off in new video released
as part of an excessive force lawsuit filed by lawyers for Cortez Bufford.
BY TOBIAS SALINGER
New police footage catches St.
Louis cops hurriedly switch off a dashboard camera recording a violent 2014
arrest that ended with the man racking up thousands of dollars in medical
bills, according to an excessive force lawsuit.
Lawyers for Cortez Bufford, 18,
went public with the video of officers kicking and tasering Bufford, who cops
say was reaching for a loaded gun later recovered by cops.
But after several police
officers had Bufford subdued, officer Kelli Swinton warned the group that it
was all caught on tape.
"Hold up. Hold up, y'all.
Hold up. Hold up, everybody, hold up,” Swinton says in the video, obtained by
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We're red right now, so if you guys are worried
about cameras, just wait."
The video ends seconds later.
New police footage catches St.
Louis cops hurriedly switch off a dashboard camera recording a violent 2014
arrest that ended with the man racking up thousands of dollars in medical
bills, according to an excessive force lawsuit.
Lawyers for Cortez Bufford, 18,
went public with the video of officers kicking and tasering Bufford, who cops
say was reaching for a loaded gun later recovered by cops.
But after several police
officers had Bufford subdued, officer Kelli Swinton warned the group that it
was all caught on tape.
"Hold up. Hold up, y'all.
Hold up. Hold up, everybody, hold up,” Swinton says in the video, obtained by
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We're red right now, so if you guys are worried
about cameras, just wait."
The video ends seconds later.
