Body cams and dash cams are becoming the norm for police departments across the nation as the public clamors for a technological solution for police oversight in the wake of the Ferguson, Missouri shooting death of an unarmed teen-ager last summer.

Among a host of fresh concerns, however, is that the police might turn off the camera gear when footage is needed most. The Oakland Police Department in California, for example, has disciplined police officers 24 times for disabling or failing to activate body-worn cameras.

That's similar to what happened in the case of a St. Louis man arrested for marijuana possession, resisting arrest, and unlawful use of a weapon. Dash cam video, released Monday, shows a suspect, Cortez Bufford, being pulled from the vehicle he was driving before being kicked and shocked with a taser.

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"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," an officer shouts seconds before the dash cam is shut off.

Bufford is suing the department on allegations of excessive force. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Police Officers' Association said the incident "reflects a proper escalation of force applied against a resisting suspect who was lucky he didn’t get shot when he reached for a gun."

Charges against Bufford were dropped after the camera being turned off "diminished the evidentiary merits of the case," police said.

According to CNN, Bufford's attorney, Joel Schwartz, said, "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 dash cams."

The St. Louis officer who turned off the cam has been recommended for disciplinary action, which is being appealed.

Police pulled over Bufford last year after his vehicle matched the description of one involved in an earlier shooting. The officers smelled and found marijuana, and Bufford had a handgun, police said.

Police said Bufford became "increasingly hostile" during the stop and was reaching for a pants pocket. Police said they kicked him with a "foot strike" to prevent him from grabbing a gun. An officer is heard yelling "gun" in the video.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims Bufford has $6,500 in medical bills for various abrasions suffered during the arrest. He claims he was struck after the camera was switched off.

Brian Millikan, a police union lawyer, told local media that there was probable cause to stop the Ford Taurus and the stench of marijuana was enough grounds to remove Bufford from the vehicle.

The officers involved, he said, were "moving up the chain of the escalation-of-force policy and they deliver some very targeted, directed strikes to his arm and leg. When that doesn’t work, they move up the ladder again to the taser. And the taser ultimately is what makes the suspect comply.”

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