Also, it is a long way from "please and thank you" to what we see in this video. Police have a large variety of means at their disposal, as well as the advantage of numbers and implicit authority. The way this man was subdued appears to be way, way over the top.
The only way we can really know for sure is if cops wear cameras. That's the best solution all around.
Of course, you are free to be driven by your personal biases. But arguing that "it is a general trend, therefore waiting for actual evidence is foolish" doesn't fly with me. It never has. It never will. I will continue to wait for actual evidence and try to not jump to conclusions.
I am aware it is a hard path to take. It is a path I take regularly and I see payoffs for trying my damnedest to stick to that path, in spite of how hard it legitimately is.
I watched a portion of the video. That isn't what it looked like to me. It looked to me like they were trying to reduce the odds of him smacking his head on the sidewalk in his struggles. Furthermore, the article itself states that although there were up to 14 police officers, many of them were trying to shield the man from view. It assumes they were doing this for nefarious reasons of covering up police brutality while simultaneously conplaining that the man's butt became exposed and was on view. The author seems to not allow for the possibility that cops were trying to hide the man's half naked state from view, both to protect his privacy and protect passersby from something most people would find offensive.
I have two special needs sons. As a parent, I am abundently familiar with how hard it can be to prevent someone from endangering themselves or others without looking like an abusive asshole in the process. But, then, my father and ex husband were both career army, so I have very little patience with the ignorance of many civilians who have never dealt with genuinely violent situations. There are times when please and thank you simply do not work and stronger methods are required.