SENATOBIA, Miss.– All eyes are on Senatobia as a viral video of a rough arrest continues to circulate.
WREG was the only camera inside Wednesday night’s board meeting as tensions flared.
Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler sounded off at Wednesday night’s Housing Authority meeting about the release of a now viral video of a rough arrest made last week.
“It matters about you doing your job. It matters about you having an impact on the community for the lack thereof. This was total irresponsibility,” said Chief Chandler.
Housing Authority cameras captured officers using force to strike 31-year-old Andre Burton in the head. The video was later shared with one of Burton’s relatives, who posted it on Facebook.
It’s force the chief says was justified.
“I’ve got death threats and all kinds of other stuff that could have been avoided to officers and dispatchers,” Chief Chandler said.
Mayor Greg Graves told us he’s unsatisfied with how the video was released also.
“It almost seems deliberate to me and deliberately inflammatory because it was only one view,” he said.
It’s a view officers went to see for themselves days after the arrest after the video went viral.
“The housing authority office was secured so that we could go in there and obtain the video evidence we needed to investigate,” Chief Chandler said.
Housing Authority Executive Director Michelle Richardson says officers already had the video but claim some files were corrupted.
“I hate that it escalated and went as far as it did,” Richardson said.
Wednesday, the Senatobia Housing Authority adopted this new surveillance system policy before releasing any videos and giving police 24/7 access.
“I just hate that that happened, and I hope we can move forward and continue to form a good relationship,” Richardson said.
Police Chief Richard Chandler says video of the incident has been handed over to federal authorities.