Body Cam Video Shows a Baltimore police officer planting drugs in neighborhood.
Bodycam footage allegedly shows a Baltimore police officer tampering with evidence by planting what appears to be drugs, according to the Maryland Office of the Public Defender.
The video was taken on January 24 when three police officers were searching for drugs in a yard filled with debris, Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jason Johnson said in a press release Wednesday.
The footage purports to show one of the officers hiding a bag of drugs in a can and then later “finding” the drugs, while two other officers “look on and take no action,” the public defender’s office said in a press release.
“Body cameras have an important role to play in the oversight and accountability of police officers but only if they are used properly and the footage is taken seriously,” said Debbie Katz Levi, head of the Baltimore Public Defender’s Special Litigation Section. “Officers should not be able to decide when to turn the cameras on and off, and footage like what was presented here needs to result in immediate action by the State’s Attorney and the Police Department.”
