Sarasota, Florida -- Sarasota, a Gulf Coast city of 53,000 full time residents, is known for its arts scene and nearby beautiful beaches. But some homeless and the American Civil Liberties Union say authorities are trying to harass the homeless into leaving town.

Surveillance video shows a Sarasota police officer knocking down a homeless man and dragging him across the pavement. The footage was obtained by the ACLU highlights what some say is a class struggle in this city of high-end condos overlooking sparkling waters.

"The ACLU found that officers were texting each other back and forth about bum hunting, hunting for bums in the city," says ACLU spokesperson Michael Barfield. "At night, during the day, in city parks. And making jokes about having to beat them up or get into a fight with them."

The organization has filed multiple lawsuits against the city, claiming that authorities are try to harass the homeless into leaving town.

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"We have an active internal affairs investigation and we're going to thoroughly investigate this case and bring it to a conclusion," says Bernadette DiPino, who is being sworn in as Sarasota's new police chief on Friday. "But I'm not at liberty at this point to discuss it because under state statute, it's a confidentiality clause that's involved."

The alleged abuse doesn't surprise some of Sarasota's homeless population. They say a burgeoning number of wealthier folks don't want them them near their homes.

"I think for a long time we've had a lot of issues. The fact that we have a lot of wealthy people downtown and they're not quite used to dealing with the lowly and downtrodden," says homeless man Steve McAllister.

"I've been homeless. I've been a vagrant and now I'm a bum that's being hunted by bum hunters," adds James Franklin Jr.

For their part, police say offer more services to the homeless than other cities, including referring them to social service programs.