Footage Of Police Officer 'Planting Evidence' Goes Viral Once Again
Footage of US police arresting a suspect in 2020 has gone viral, as people think it shows officers planting evidence.
The video, which has now been viewed millions of times, appears to show a police officer placing drugs on the ground beside a suspect who has been handcuffed and arrested.
The footage shows one of the deputies handling a small bag on the ground near the man, while bystanders filming the arrest say they saw the officer put it there himself. The handcuffed suspect also says the bag is not his.
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Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office responded to the video at the time to explain that their deputy didn't plant evidence on a suspect, despite what the footage appeared to show.
JP Sheriff Joe Lopinto said the viral footage missed out the important context that the deputy was handling a bag that had initially been taken from the suspect's pockets before people started filming the incident.
He said: "Our deputies, all of them that were on the scene, gave a very consistent message of what happened.
"The drugs that were on the scene were previously confiscated from the suspect's pocket before that video started to play.
"That video did not show the drugs coming out of his pocket, it was in his right hand which he transferred to his left hand, which he placed on the ground during his search for additional evidence that was on the scene.
"The accusation spread by the public in the video was not necessarily correct."
According to initial reporting from Mercury News at the time of the arrest, on March 16, 2020 police noticed a suspect that fit the description of a man spotted selling drugs and who attempted to resist when officers approached.
They also report that one officer was bitten while apprehending the suspect and was treated for minor injuries in hospital.
A small bag was recovered from the scene, though it tested negative for any narcotics and the suspect was not charged with any drug related crimes.
He was instead charged with battery on an officer, battery on an officer with injury and resisting arrest with force or violence, he also later apologised for biting an officer during his arrest.
A later search warrant uncovered messages relating to the sale of drugs and further testing of the bag identified the substance inside as methamphetamine.
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Joe Harker