Body Camera Once Again Captures Same New York Police Officer Planting Drugs in Car
The issue of New York police officers falsely claiming to smell marijuana during a routine traffic stop and using this as probable cause to conduct a search without a warrant is a serious issue in New York that some judges are finally starting to call them out on, but what about officers planting marijuana in a car during a traffic stop? While the police department has supposedly scaled back on marijuana arrests, at the same time, thousands of people are still arrested each year over small amounts of marijuana; most of them black or Hispanic; and now, a number of officers are wearing body cameras. As a result, one officer was caught by his own camera planting marijuana in a car during a traffic stop.
The first video recording him doing this emerged in 2018, and the second emerged more recently, in March 2020. The incidents not only highlight potential corruption and conspiracy involving marijuana charges in general here in New York, but also questions surrounding the credibility of any internal review process when it comes to police misconduct cases, as an internal police investigation of the officer’s conduct reportedly found no evidence of misconduct, and resulted in the officer being placed back on the streets. In addition, according to reports, these videos did not emerge for almost two years; instead, prosecutors simply decided to throw out the marijuana charges out after the defendant – who was the passenger, not the owner of the car – had to appear in court at least 10 times to fight the charges, and ended up pleading guilty to resisting arrest just to avoid jail time. As if this was not bad enough, the police officers reportedly brutalized the defendant even though he had just undergone surgery.
Conduct by NYPD, Ignoring Officer’s Conduct, Makes Body Cameras Useless
As highlighted by a number of civil rights and criminal defense advocates, what use are body cameras in terms of “providing important evidence in criminal and civil proceedings” if what is captured on them is kept hidden not only from the public, but also from the defendants who are legally entitled to review any and all evidence gathered against them in order to prepare their defense, and the police officer caught on camera engaging in illegal conduct is never disciplined for doing so? According to a report recently released by the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board, New York police officers often fail to properly use their body cameras by even turning them on in time or at all, or will frequently turn them off early. In addition, officers, if called on to testify and explain what happened with their cameras, have claimed that their cameras turned off on their own or weren’t working due to “technical difficulties.”
If You Are Charged with A Drug Crime as A Result of a Routine Traffic Stop, Contact Our New York Criminal Defense & Civil Rights Attorneys Right Away
If you are charged for a drug crime in connection with a traffic stop, working with an experienced New York criminal defense attorney is essential in order to ensure that your rights are not violated and illegally-obtained evidence is not introduced at trial to be used against you. Contact New York criminal defense attorney Phillip J. Murphy today for a free consultation; with more than 30 years of experience, we are well-versed in ensuring that our clients are not wrongfully convicted.
Resource:
nyc.gov/site/nypd/about/about-nypd/equipment-tech/body-worn-cameras.page
nytimes.com/2018/11/19/nyregion/body-cameras-police-marijuana-arrest.html
nyc.gov/assets/ccrb/downloads/pdf/policy_pdf/issue_based/20200227_BWCReport.pdf
