A Peekskill man alleging police brutality says surveillance tape proves police attacked him for no reason. But Newburgh's chief of police says that same tape tells an entirely different story.

Jessie Carlson, 19, and several friends were at a Newburgh gas station on Sept. 30. Police show up after someone apparently called on the group for being rowdy. The men from the video admit they were drunk that night. However, they say they did nothing to provoke violence. Carlson says cops beat him with a nightstick.

Police Chief Paolilli says his officers had to make arrests that night after the group became unruly. He says he doesn't see brutality on the tape. Paolilli says the tape shows an individual lunging at a police officer and that officer took the man to the ground and arrested him.

Civil-rights attorney Michael Sussman held a news conference Thursday denouncing the incident caught on tape and other recent problems between police and residents. Sussman also spoke out against cops last month in regard to the death of 25-year-old Nathaniel Cobbs. Cobbs died in July, hours after being arrested and struggling with police.

Sussman released a report on behalf of the Democratic Alliance of Orange County, which lists suggestions on to improve relations between police and residents, such as through the use of cameras in police cruisers. Paolilli says he's open to the discussion.