Baltimore Police investigating whether officers planted drugs to frame man

The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) has opened an investigation into allegations that officers planted evidence in a case that lead to one man's arrest

The allegations surfaced after the state public defender's office released body camera footage showing officers placing drugs in a trash heap, leaving the scene, and then returning to “discover” the drugs seconds later.

At a press conference on Wednesday, BPD Commissioner Kevin Davis said the video shows the officers handling evidence in a way that is “inconsistent with the way we do business”.

“When allegations of police misconduct surface, we’re not going to shy away from them,” he added. “...There’s nothing that deteriorates the trust of any community more than thinking for one second that uniformed police officers, or police officers in general, would plant evidence of crimes on citizens."

Mr Davis said the department is investigating the incident. It has suspended one officer and put two others on administrative duty.

A spokesperson for the public defender’s office told The Independent that they had represented at least one person charged on allegations stemming from the video. The man had been in jail since January, unable to pay his $50,000 bail, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Prosecutors dropped the charges after the video surfaced.

In an email obtained by Fox Baltimore, a prosecutor said the office was "appalled" by the footage.

"Something is going to happen because of this revelation," the prosecutor said.

Police have now released additional body camera footage of the man's arrest and the resulting search for drugs.

Deputy Police Commissioner Jason Johnson narrated the footage at a press conference on Wednesday, explaining that the officers were on routine surveillance when they noticed two men behaving suspiciously. When the two men left the scene, the officers pursued and stopped both of them. Heroin was discovered on both men, Mr Johnson claimed.

After making their arrests, officers returned to the scene to look for any drugs left behind. Body camera footage shows the officers discovering one bag of what appears to be drugs, then continuing to look for more. The video does not show the discovery of the second bag of drugs, which is depicted in the final, controversial video.

Mr Davis said the department has not formed on opinion on as to whether the video depicts officers planting the drugs, re-creating the discovery of the drugs, or something else entirely.

“We have not reached any conclusions,” Mr Davis said. “...But to let the at initial video that was released by the public defender's’ office stand by its lonesome does not paint as clear of a picture as we would like to offer to the community right now.”

In an email to The Independent, a public defender's office spokesperson said several cases involving the officers in the video remain open.

“We have long supported the use of police body cameras to help identify police misconduct, but such footage is meaningless if prosecutors continue to rely on these officers, especially if they do so without disclosing their bad acts,” said Debbie Katz Levi, head of the public defender’s special litigation section, in a statement.

She added: “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.”