Body cam shows Baltimore cop planting drugs to set up a suspect
Baltimore Police Officer Richard Pinheiro is now under investigation after his body camera appeared to catch him planting evidence.
The camera is set up to catch footage in the 30 seconds leading up to activation, though with no audio, so for 30 seconds, an audio-less video seemsto show Pinheiro placing a bag of drugs in a soup can in a trash-covered area. He walks away and then turns his camera on, telling his fellow officers Jamal Brunson and Jovannes Simonyan, “I’m going to check here,” before finding the drugs a few seconds later and shouting, “yo!”
Deborah Katz Levi, assistant public defender for Baltimore’s felony division, told BuzzFeed News that the public defender representing the defendant who was charged in the drug bust found the footage “on the eve of the trial” and told the state’s attorney’s office, who “took immediate and appropriate actions by dropping the case and alerting his supervisor,” according to a spokesperson for the office.
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The public defender’s office is now asking for a review of all cases involving the three officers, and the incident is now under investigation. The officer in question is a witness in at least 53 other active cases.
“We take allegations like this very seriously and that’s why we launched an internal investigation into the accusations,” said Police Department spokesman T.J. Smith. “We are fortunate to have body-worn cameras which provide a perspective of the event.”
But Levi wants more done, saying in a statement that police should not have the option of turning their cameras on and off.
“Officer misconduct has been a pervasive issue at the Baltimore Police Department, which is exacerbated by the lack of accountability.” Levi said. “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.”
Police are expected to release more information during a press conference Wednesday.
