Officer Mistakenly Records Himself with Bodycam Planting Drugs

Baltimore Police officer mistakenly records himself with bodycam planting drugs at crime scene

The 90-second Baltimore police body camera video, which was made public by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, belongs to Officer Richard Pinheiro, who appears to hide and later “find” drugs among trash strewn on a plot next to a Baltimore residence.

Two other officers appear to be with the Pinheiro as he hides the drugs.

“I’m gonna go check here,” Pinheiro announces in the video. He then picks up a can in which he placed a plastic bag of pills earlier in the video and retrieves them.

Police cameras can include a feature that saves 30 seconds of video before activation.

As the officer searches the lot for evidence, a colleague can be heard saying, “Is that 30?” — possibly a reference to the way the body-worn cameras operate.

They record 30 seconds of video without sound before an officer actively turns on the camera, according to the manufacturer Axon. Referred to as a buffer, it’s meant to capture crucial evidence that might occur just before an officer activates his camera.

In another words, this bodycam records and deletes 30 second intervals of video without audio until activated. Once the bodycam is activated, it no longer deletes the previous 30-second video and saves everything.

Pinheiro is a witness in about 53 active cases, and he was even called to testify in a case earlier this week, the Public Defender’s Office said.

The new video has led to that case’s dismissal after an assistant public defender forwarded it to the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, according to the Public Defender’s Office.

Officer Pinheiro in the video has been suspended, and two others were placed on administrative duty pending an investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

Baltimore police have been rocked by controversy since the death of Freddie Gray in April 2015. Six officers were charged in connection with his death.

The trials ended in either a hung jury, or officers were found not guilty or had charges dropped after the state’s attorney was unable to proceed with prosecution.

Deaths due to gun violence in the city are up 21% this year over 2016, with 186 killed so far, according to Baltimore police. If that pace continues, the city is on track to set a record.

Long plagued by charges of corruption, the Baltimore Police Department has struggled to win public confidence.

Since 2011, Baltimore has paid out more than $13 million to settle lawsuits alleging police misconduct.

This latest episode is another blow for the city.