A Wisconsin police officer who admitted to planting a suspect’s ID and a bullet in a backpack in a search of his home in order to frame him has pretty much completely gotten away with it, getting only a short probation and some community service rather than jail time.





In April 2014, Kyle Baars of the Kenosha Police Department was one of several officers tasked with looking for evidence in a murder case. During a house search, Baars told a colleague that he found a backpack with one of the primary suspect’s ID card, as well as a .22 caliber bullet. Months later, Baars admitted to a detective that he’d planted both items.

The planted evidence was not used during the murder trial, although the suspect was later convicted. Baars resigned in 2015, and was charged with misconduct in a public office and obstruction. He was convicted in April following a guilty plea to misconduct. But instead of serving a year in jail and a year of probation, he convinced a judge to keep him out of jail because he freely admitted his wrongdoing.

“This was not uncovered,” he said. “I was not confronted with this. I was literally the first person to bring this to the attention of the appropriate people.” He also claimed that he testified with the understanding that he wouldn’t be prosecuted, due to a deal he made with a district attorney, which prosecutors refuted. “To be honest I can’t help but feel I’ve been penalized for trying to do the right thing.”