St. Louis Metropolitan Police (SLMPD) officer lighting a cigar while making an arrest has some questioning the department’s actions.

Reverend Rodrick Burton is the Law and Order Chair for the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition; he calls the video troubling.

“An individual that you have under your power and you’re smoking cigars? That’s saying something,” said Burton. “When officers make those types of decisions, to be caught on film, whether there’s a camera there or not, to just do something like that. Furthermore, it communicates with the community that they’re not serious.”

SLMPD says the officer was working secondary for Marquee Lounge when workers asked the officer to remove the man from the premises.

“An internal investigation has been launched to better understand the circumstances of the situation, what led up to the video and the events that transpired after. We can confirm some officers on scene were equipped with body-worn cameras,” wrote Mitch McCoy, SLMPD’s Director of Public Affairs and Information Division.

First Alert 4 looked up city policy which states: In accordance with Ordinance #62523 as amended by Ordinance #65991, no employees in the civil service shall smoke in any public or non-public area of any building owned, leased or operated by the City of St. Louis, nor in any public or non-public area of any building occupied by the City of St. Louis to the extent of such occupancy.