Latest video “was self-reported as a re-enactment of the seizure of evidence.”
A Baltimore Police Department officer has “self-reported” a staged body cam video. This brings the number of fabricated body cam videos rocking the agency to at least three. In this most recent instance alone, 43 cases are being dropped or not prosecuted, the state’s top prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, said.
In all, more than 100 cases have been dropped or will be. Dozens of additional cases are being investigated because of three body cam videos fabricated by the Baltimore Police Department. The first video was disclosed a month ago. Dozens of closed cases are also being re-examined, state prosecutors said. They said they are examining hundreds of cases involving officers connected to the videos.
“The body-worn camera program was established to fight crime, better protect officers, and foster public trust,” said State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. “Whether planting evidence, re-enacting the seizure of evidence, or prematurely turning off the department-issued body-worn camera, those actions misrepresent the truth and undermine public trust.”
The latest video, according to the officer who turned it over, “was self-reported as a re-enactment of the seizure of evidence,” Mosby’s office said. The first two videos involved either the planting of drugs or the recreation of a drug crime scene. Those videos prompted Baltimore Police Department Commissioner Kevin Davis to order officers not to stage body cam footage. The authorities did not publicly release the latest video. Nor did they identify the suspects or the officers connected to the video.
The police body cam misconduct ordeal began a month ago when the Maryland public defender’s office released a body cam video showing a cop planting drugs in an alley. The police department turned over the video to defense attorneys as part of the usual discovery process. The officer, Richard Pinheiro, is seen planting evidence and has been suspended. He apparently did not realize that the agency’s body cams retain footage 30 seconds before an officer presses the record button.
TJ Smith, a police spokesman, told The Baltimore Sun that officers are likely to “come forward” with more questionable body cam video.
“I think, out of an abundance of caution, officers are going to come forward and say, ‘just FYI,’ and we shouldn’t let that cloud everything because it deserves time, it deserves investigation,” he said.