Caledonia Police Release Footage, Statement on Viral Traffic Stop Video

By Alyssa Wilson Published: July 26, 2021

Caledonia Police Release Footage, Statement on Viral Traffic Stop Video

The Caledonia Police Department released body camera footage from a traffic stop going viral on social media. (Photo: Caledonia Police Body Camera Footage)

By: Alyssa Wilson

After a video alleging that a police officer planted drugs in a Black man’s car went viral on social media, the Village of Caledonia Police Department released a statement and body camera footage from the traffic stop.

The video went viral on Facebook on July 24 after people alleged that the officer placed a bag in the back of the stopped vehicle, CBS 58 reported. The Racine-native who posted the video wrote the caption, “First time ever seeing a cop try to throw sum on me just to get reason to search the car.”

Police Chief Christopher Botsch responded to the video Saturday night by releasing the video from the officer’s body camera. On Facebook, the department said, “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.”

No arrests were made relating to the incident, and the driver of the car was issued a citation for speeding, police said. “While this is only a summary of the events, the origin of the empty corner tear and the circumstances under which it was placed in the vehicle are supported by body worn camera video,” it said.

The video from all four officers present on the scene totals more than six hours, Police Chief Christopher Botsch said.

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