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Watch Baltimore cops allegedly plant drug evidence yet again
For the second time in two weeks, body-camera footage from the Baltimore Police Department appears to show officers planting drug evidence at an arrest scene.
The footage from three officers, provided by a Baltimore defense attorney and compiled by VICE News, appears to show police searching a vehicle without finding any drugs and later suddenly discovering evidence. After seeing the video, prosecutors dropped all charges on Monday against the woman arrested during the stop, Shamere Collins, the Baltimore Sun reported.
“It appears in the video that the drugs may have been placed there by the cover officer,” said Collins’ attorney Josh Insley, who released the footage Tuesday. “But the videos speak for themselves.”
The Baltimore Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Baltimore police pulled Collins over on Nov. 29, 2016, on suspicion that she was engaged in a drug deal with her passenger.
A timeline of what appears to happen on the body camera footage provided to VICE News follows (times are Eastern Standard Time).
11:43 p.m.: Officers search the vehicle, including the area around the driver’s seat, even removing parts of the dashboard and CD player. “I don’t see anything,” one officer is heard saying. The car was searched “thoroughly” for about 30 minutes, according to the Baltimore public defender’s office.
12.21 a.m.: A different officer than the one who did the initial search asks his colleagues if anyone had searched the area around the driver’s seat, another time-stamped body-cam video shows. No audible response is given.
12.22 a.m.: The officer who asked if anyone had searched the seat area appears to reexamine the driver’s seat area and pulls out a bag, body-camera footage from a different angle shows. “I knew it,” one officer is heard saying. Another is heard saying the bag contains marijuana and other drugs, later determined to be heroin.
Less than two weeks ago, the Baltimore public defender’s office released body camera footage from a January drug arrest that appeared to show another Baltimore police officer plant a bag of heroin before making an arrest. Police officials contended that the officer was re-creating the discovery, with his camera on, for evidence to be used in court. One of the officers involved was suspended, and the other two were placed on administrative duty.
The video was the latest incident of alleged misconduct from the Baltimore PD, already under close scrutiny. Earlier this year, the department entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to institute reforms, called a consent decree, after investigators identified pervasive racial bias in its policing practices.
The three officers involved in the first video were slated to testify in 123 cases. State’s attorney for Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby — whose tough position on police misconduct in the wake of Freddie Gray’s 2015 death in police custody earned her a national spotlight — said that 41 cases have since been dropped, 55 are under review, and the remainder can proceed due to the existence of evidence not linked to the officers, according to the New York Times.
“The credibility of those officers has now been directly called into question,” Mosby said last Friday.
In light of the latest video, Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Davis released a statement that “under no circumstances” are officers to “re-create” evidence discoveries. Davis also said that officers’ body cameras are to remain activated at all times. “If you must deactivate your body-worn camera during an incident, merely explain the reasoning on camera” — for example, if an officer needs to protect the identity of a witness who wishes to remain anonymous.
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Crazy how this happens after the many reports on systemic racism by law enforcement in Baltimore (and other states). I wonder why Rudy Giuliani hasn't responded yet?
Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011
--Lynn Langton, Ph.D., and Matthew Durose, BJS Statisticians
_In the Justice Department’s damning, astonishing report on the ingrained, systemic racism in Baltimore’s police department, one tidbit captures the larger picture. It describes an email by a city police supervisor containing a template for officers making trespassing arrests, with blanks to be filled in for date, location, suspect’s name and address — yet, oddly, no prompt for race or gender. Instead, the words “black male” were automatically included._
quote: Strip searches, ‘lock up all the black hoodies': Excerpts from Justice Dept. report on Baltimore PD
“BPD’s warrantless arrests for discretionary misdemeanor offenses exhibit substantial racial disparities. .. Analysis of this data reveals that African Americans account for the overwhelming majority of BPD’s discretionary misdemeanor arrests, and that reviewing officials are more likely to dismiss charges against African Americans—indicating that officers apply a lower standard when making them. As an initial matter, BPD officers arrest African Americans for several common misdemeanor offenses at high rates. Although they make up only 63 percent of Baltimore’s population, African Americans accounted for: 87 percent of the 3,400 charges for resisting arrest; 89 percent of 1,350 charges for making a false statement to an officer; 84 percent of the 4,000 charges for failing to obey an order; 86 percent of the more than 1,000 charges for hindering or obstruction; 83 percent of the roughly 6,500 arrests for disorderly conduct; and 88 percent of the nearly 3,500 arrests for trespassing on posted property.”
“Evidence of Gender Bias in BPD’s Response to Sexual Assault”
“We were also troubled by statements of BPD detectives suggesting an undue skepticism of reports of sexual assault. One victim advocate told us about a detective in the BPD Sex Offense Unit making comments at a party, in the company of BPD officers and victim advocates, that, “in homicide, there are real victims; all our cases are bullshit.” When another person suggested the detective soften the statement, the detective added, “Ok, 90 percent.” We also reviewed e-mail correspondence between a BPD officer and a prosecutor in which they openly expressed their contempt for and disbelief of a woman who had reported a sexual assault: the prosecutor wrote that “this case is crazy. . . I am not excited about charging it. This victim seems like a conniving little whore. (pardon my language).”; the BPD officer replied, “Lmao! I feel the same.”
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87 percent of the 3,400 charges for resisting arrest; 89 percent of 1,350 charges for making a false statement to an officer; 84 percent of the 4,000 charges for failing to obey an order; 86 percent of the more than 1,000 charges for hindering or obstruction; 83 percent of the roughly 6,500 arrests for disorderly conduct; and 88 percent of the nearly 3,500 arrests for trespassing on posted property.” I how those numbers compare throughout the US by race because those charges sound like the easiest to abuse.
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Now the pieces of the puzzle falling into place.
quote:We also found large racial disparities in BPD’s arrests for drug possession. While survey data shows that African Americans use drugs at rates similar to or slightly exceeding other population groups, BPD arrested African Americans for drug possession at five times the rate of others.
[...]
The racial disparities in BPD’s enforcement are far higher than any demographic differences in the rates at which individuals use drugs. While the observed prevalence of illicit drug use varies somewhat by data source, most comprehensive surveys indicate that African Americans use drugs at rates that, at most, only modestly exceed other population groups. The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that, in 2013, 8.7 percent of African Americans over age 12 had used drugs within the past month, compared to 7.7 percent of Caucasians. The 2012 survey reported similar figures, with 9.1 percent of African Americans and 7.4
Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011
--Lynn Langton, Ph.D., and Matthew Durose, BJS Statisticians
quote: The best national evidence on drug use shows that African Americans and whites use illegal drugs at about the same rate. Nonetheless, African Americans are about five times as likely to go to prison for drug possession as whites—and judging from exonerations, innocent black people are about 12 times more likely to be convicted of drug crimes than innocent white people.pp.16-17
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Analysis of this data reveals that African Americans account for the overwhelming majority of BPD’s discretionary misdemeanor arrests, and that reviewing officials are more likely to dismiss charges against African Americans—indicating that officers apply a lower standard when making them.
As an initial matter, BPD officers arrest African Americans for several common misdemeanor offenses at high rates. Although they make up only 63 percent of Baltimore’s population, African Americans accounted for:
quote:Originally posted by Thereal: 87 percent of the 3,400 charges for resisting arrest; 89 percent of 1,350 charges for making a false statement to an officer; 84 percent of the 4,000 charges for failing to obey an order; 86 percent of the more than 1,000 charges for hindering or obstruction; 83 percent of the roughly 6,500 arrests for disorderly conduct; and 88 percent of the nearly 3,500 arrests for trespassing on posted property.” I how those numbers compare throughout the US by race because those charges sound like the easiest to abuse.
Could be true, but statistically it seems to be more out of hand at Baltimore.
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