A routine police traffic stop has gone viral after one of the people in the car filmed an officer putting a bag on the back seat.
The video quickly notched up millions of views after it was shared online shown the incident involving Village of Caledonia Police Department in Caledonia, Wisconsin.
After the video went viral, it prompted police to organise a review which included the release of body camera footage from the officer in question.
The original video that went viral shows a police officer not named approaching the vehicle and throwing an item into the backseat of the car.
The audio transcript of the video then continues with the person filming saying: “Hey Bro what’s that?”
The officer then replies saying: “What’s what?”
To which the person filming adds: “What you just threw in here. I got you on camera, bro.”
Police then released their own footage with their version of events making it clear that there was no drugs planted – there was simply returning an empty piece of bag that had been taken from one of the suspects and placed it back in their vehicle.
In the statement they said that the incident happened on 07-21-21 at about 3:22pm when “officers conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle traveling 63 mph in a 45 mph zone”.
They said that there was a driver and passengers in the front and rear seats, some of whom had legally chosen to use the right not to have to identify themselves.
They continued: The driver and rear passengers were later removed from the vehicle. A subsequent search of one of the rear passengers produced an empty corner tear (corner of a plastic baggie) from a passenger’s pocket. The empty corner tear did NOT contain any illegal substance; however, this type of packaging is a common method for holding illegal drugs.
“The empty corner tear was turned over by the searching officer to another officer who was on scene. That officer turned it over to the officer who is seen on video. Since there were NO DRUGS in the corner tear, the officers discarded the empty packaging material in the vehicle. This is what was observed in the video.
“The front seat passenger tells the officer that his actions are on video, and the officer replies that he is also recording the incident. The officer acknowledges to the front seat passenger that he (officer) put the item there and explains that it was taken from one of the passengers and the officer did not want to “hold on to it.”
“Essentially, he appears to be discarding the empty baggie. 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.
“No arrests were made as a result of this incident. The only arrest/citation arising from this incident was a speeding citation issued to the driver.”
Police said that although this was essentially only a summary of what went on, the body camera footage that they released confirms what officers were saying about the empty corner tear and the circumstances under which it was put in the vehicle.
