Images from a cell phone camera at the scene of a violent encounter between a group of Buffalo police officers and a Williamsville man led to the suspension of six officers Monday.
Mayor Brown calls the scenes of the April 19 encounter "very disturbing" after he and Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda viewed the images uploaded to a web site. The images are of police slapping and kicking a man who was already handcuffed.
The officers aren't being named and the mayor says he doesn't know if any have faced past claims of excessive force. So far, the actual photographers haven't surfaced.
John Willet told Channel 4 he ran after bailing from his car during a chase in Riverside because he knew he had illegal drugs.
"When I saw the tape, I was surprised. I was disturbed," Brown told a press gathering Monday.
"I immediately called the police commissioner and immediately asked the police commissioner, who had seen the tape, to conduct a very complete and very swift investigation and leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of things."
Mayor Brown says his administration has been willing to probe police officers, citing the investigation which found some police officers misusing Injured on Duty status. The mayor says he has increased the staffing in the Internal Affairs Division which investigates officers.
