A white police officer in Caledonia, Wisconsin has been accused of planting evidence in a black man’s car during a traffic stop. The driver was allegedly going 63 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. There are no formal accusations or charges, just assumptions from people who saw a short and out-of-context clip online. Multiple clips of the incident exist, but first impressions are sometimes everything.
One of the passengers of the car was recording the incident and his clip is the first one most people on the internet saw. The man recording shouts “you just planted that in here” to the officer in question around the middle of the short clip. He is presumably accusing the officer of planting drugs in the car. People online see a piece of plastic fly in and assume the person in the car is telling the truth. Context is needed to understand the truth.
Yes, a police officer did toss a piece of plastic into a car while the driver was pulled over and out of the vehicle. But the plastic “baggie” was nothing more than an “empty corner tear” which is not at all illegal to possess. So a search could not be started just for that. The person being searched had the baggie on his person and the searching officer gave it to the officer who tossed it back in the car.
If the officer simply put the bag in his own pocket or tossed it out into the street then that could cause serious issues. The officer could be charged with destroying evidence, among other things. The person being searched might violate probation (if he was on it) by showing up at a police station with an empty baggie that has weed residue on it. None of the men in the vehicle were arrested and they probably just got a speeding ticket and that’s all. And the moral of the story here is to pause for a moment before making a snap judgment. Sometimes things aren’t always what they appear to be.
SOURCES:
Body camera video released in response to social media post claiming police planted evidence
Caledonia police chief says officer did not plant evidence in car
Body camera video released in response to social media post claiming police planted evidence
UPDATE: Wisconsin Police Respond To Viral Video Of Cops Allegedly Planting Evidence | National | BET
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