Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City police chief has called for the firing of an officer accused of wedging his nightstick into the mouth of a man he believed had hidden crack cocaine.

Chief Jim Corwin said the behavior of Officer Anthony Melkowski was unacceptable and that he committed several police policy violations. According to the allegations, Melkowski also choked the handcuffed man, pulled his hair and pressed his face against the hood of a patrol car.

“When people are treated that poorly, it’s very disappointing,” said Corwin, who announced the firing recommendation Tuesday and released a patrol car videotape of the incident. “It’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

The encounter happened Nov. 2 and was brought to the attention of police officials the same night after the handcuffed man, Michael Payne, filed a complaint.

“He shouldn’t be able to get away with doing people like that,” the 25-year-old Payne said. “A lot of people wouldn’t tell. They’d just be happy they were going home. … But I know my rights. He wasn’t supposed to treat me like that.”

Melkowski didn’t immediately return a phone call for comment from The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The officer, who has been with the department since 1997, was suspended with pay in May. The suspension was changed to unpaid leave Tuesday. Ultimately, it will be up to the Board of Police Commissioners to decide whether to fire the officer.

A police spokesman said Melkowski isn’t believed to have an attorney at this time. Police union representatives also could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning.

Payne said he had no drugs on him, but that Kansas City officers accused him of selling drugs the night of the incident. He said they handcuffed and searched him.

Payne said he does have a 2004 drug conviction out of Kansas, but it’s for possessing cocaine and not for selling the drug.

The 13-minute police video show the officers shining a flashlight into the man’s mouth and claiming to see drugs. They try for about 10 minutes to get Payne to spit out the drugs they think he’s concealing.

Melkowski presses his hand on the back of the man’s neck and curses at him repeatedly. Two other officers try to get the man to cough up drugs by waving ammonia inhalants near his nose.

A couple of minutes pass, and Melkowski asks an officer identified as his partner to bring him his nightstick.

“He’s gonna hurt me!” says the handcuffed man, identified as Payne.

Melkowski then struggles with Payne. What happens next can’t be seen in the video, because Payne’s not facing the patrol car camera. But Payne later said that Melkowski forced the nightstick into his mouth at that point.

Payne eventually allows the officers to look inside his mouth.

“It’s gone,” Melkowski’s partner says. “We’re wasting our time.”

Payne tells the officers that he’s going to report them.

“Go ahead,” Melkowski answers. “All we did was save your (expletive).”

“You didn’t save me,” Payne says. “You hurt me.”

In the end, Melkowski tells Payne in a voice that can barely be heard: “Mark my words, I’ve got your (expletive) number.”

The incident isn’t the first one in which Melkowski was accused of excessive force. He was suspended in January 2005 for 15 days for “discourtesy and unnecessary use of force on a handcuffed subject,” according to police records.