Davis Speaks Up For Officers In Third Problematic Body-Camera Video

Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis held a Thursday press conference to register his strong objections to State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby dropping charges in dozens of cases tied to a third problematic body camera video.

"I remain committed to getting it right in Baltimore. At times, however, we fall short," Davis said. "We must not misconstrue mistakes in judgment by police officers as criminality."

Davis said that since the body camera program began, 62 officers have been disciplined for not having their cameras on when they should, 14 more have been disciplined for caught-on-camera misconduct and one has been fired. However, he unequivocally defended the officers as the department showed the relevant video and audio to reporters.

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Mosby said that the officer should have included the re-enactment seen in the body camera footage in the statement of probable cause, and that failing to do so creates "indefensible doubts in the minds of the general public, judges and jurors.

“We are working hard to gain the trust and confidence of the public and incidents like this make it harder," Mosby said. "The BPD is an indispensable partner and I am committed to working with the commissioner as he continues to reform the department.”

In June, a special unit pulled up by a suspect in southwest Baltimore. The suspect, 22-year-old Tyquon Jones of the 2700 block of Giles Road, immediately ran, as seen in body camera video. Officers gave chase, and he was re-captured at the edge of a wooded area.

Police, Davis said, believed he discarded drugs during the foot chase and listened in on his calls from Central Booking. Two days later, police heard him tell an unknown person where to find the drugs in a cigar package in that wooded area.

"And, you know where like the bushes at right there, say we like, listen, look you gotta listen you and picture it," the suspect is heard saying.

That person said he would check the following morning. Officers, however, hearing that, went there the next morning before that person could get there. The first officer sees the second officer recover the drugs, and the first officer's body camera video depicts that. At that point, the officer puts the drugs down and both officers activate their body cameras. The cameras automatically recorded the previous 30 seconds without audio, however. The second officer then picks up the bag again.

Warning: The below video contains explicit language.

"That's it. There is nothing questionable about this," Davis said. "The officer did exactly what I and the community expect of him."

Davis likened it to a time before body cameras, when an officer might find evidence in a cereal box and put it back to take a still photo of where it was recovered.

Davis said he had little doubt a reasonable jury would see the videos the same way he did.

The officer, Davis repeatedly emphasized, self-reported the gaffe in light of recent and highly public issues with body camera video, but neither the officer nor Davis expected all the cases tied to the three officers involved to be dropped.

"A decision to drop all the pending criminal charges with these three officers simply does not help the crime fight," Davis said. "They need support. They need my support. They need your support, and they need support from everyone in the criminal justice systems."

Davis said he has met with Mosby to talk about their differing viewpoints on the case, and said he doesn't believe the flap will hurt the strong working relationship between police and prosecutors. However, he said he had to speak out publicly to defend the three officers to protect department morale and let younger officers know he'll stand up for them if they do the right thing.

"We need cops in Baltimore and part of our retention efforts involve leadership responsibility and having these conversations is one of my responsibility as police commissioner."