By Joseph Wilkinson
New York Daily News
CALEDONIA, Wis. — A Wisconsin police department released body-camera video Saturday proving that one of its officers did not plant evidence.
A video from the south Milwaukee suburb of Caledonia showed an Caledonia police officer tossing a baggie into a car. The video went viral on social media because the account’s owner said the officer planted the baggie.
However, body-camera video shared on Facebook by the Caledonia Police Department showed officers removing the bag from a car passenger before placing it in the car.
“It’s an empty baggie at the moment,” the officer says at the end of the video.
A follow-up video showed officers removing the empty bag from a passenger before one cop walked over to the car and tossed it into the back seat. At that point, the viral portion of the video starts, in which the front passenger calls out the officer, claiming he “got” it on camera.
After the widely seen moment ends, the officer explains that the bag came from the other man’s pocket and that he didn’t want to hold onto it. Further body-camera footage confirmed that it came from the passenger’s pocket. Of course, as the officer noted, it was empty anyways.
“While we would discourage officers from discarding items into a citizen’s vehicle, the video is clear that the officer is NOT planting evidence or doing anything illegal. Additionally, the empty corner tear is not itself illegal,” Caledonia police chief Christopher Botsch said in his department’s post.
Police said the vehicle was pulled over for driving 63 mph in a 45 mph area. The passengers were not arrested. The driver was cited for speeding.
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