A Tale of Police Who Plant Drugs (aka A Garden of Corruption)

Cops planting drugs on a person or in their possessions is actually more common than the data would suggest.

How common? Well, nobody actually knows because there is no real data.  

Despite the increases in the usage of body cameras over recent years. Police are still caught planting drugs and other types of evidence in order to get an arrest or a warrant.  

The individuals who commit these crimes not only tarnish the name of the department they represent but more importantly ruin the lives of countless others in the process.   

Today we will take a deep dive into a garden of corruption.

This article is not legal advice. I am not a lawyer or do I claim to be qualified to give legal advice. This article is intended to be purely educational. The advice given in this article is to be used under the readers discretion and with the understanding that the systems involved in the legal process may not always work the proper way.  

Manufacturing Evidence at Traffic Stops  

The police and the courts know transporting drugs is a common practice. I’m not talking about drug smuggling though. Nothing is out of the ordinary for a small bag of weed, or few pills to be found in a vehicle during a search.

If you watch the show Cops you’ve probably seen some of the most mind boggling instances, like this one.  

This is obviously not an example of an officer planting drugs if so, Chris Angel should take notes.  

That is generally why it is so easy for them to get away with it.  

What Are Common Ways Police Plant Evidence?  

Unlike a majority of crimes, anything that involves corruption is hard to track. Assuming that the State even cares about police officers planting evidence, how would they stop it? They have no realistic means to keep track of every officer employed in their state.   

Only Seven states require the usage of body cameras state wide. Even if the officer is wearing the camera that doesn’t mean that they are recording or that their actions are caught on camera.  

This is why it’s easy for a cop to falsify evidence by planting it.  

But how?  

The Cops Can Plant a Garden in Your Car  

Some cops will use any excuse to search a person’s vehicle if they think it’s going to bring some drugs to the evidence locker. The police are trained to look for any probable cause to search your vehicle. Some may try to intimidate you or force you to let them search your vehicle, even without a probable cause.  

The Fourth amendment recognizes that the State has no right to search your property without a probable cause. Even if there are repercussions, without a cause the officer can’t search your vehicle without your permission or a warrant.  

The police can force you to leave the vehicle and frisk you or search you for drugs and weapons. As long as you give them no reasonable excuse the police will not be able to search your vehicle.  

Personally I would ensure all the windows are up in your vehicle except when the officer approaches your window, to avoid any shenanigans. This still can not stop the cops from trying a stunt like this.  

Ensure You Maintain Possession of Your Property  

If an officer searches you, they may try to get your possessions away from you. If so tell them you want it back as soon as they are done inspecting things.  

Refusing to return your property to you is a seizure of property, and a violation of your Fourth amendment. If there is no probable cause that exists to hold onto your property after they have been checked. Then it is your right to have it returned. 

When your property is placed on the ground, or on the trunk of your car that does not mean you can’t get it back into possession. If you ask for your belongings back the officer should oblige. 

Common things people carry like wallets and cigarette packs are also common places people store drugs, I guess.

Generally, these are also easy places for a cop to plant a small bag of drugs.  

Never Accept Anything That is Not Yours.  

Another reason to ensure you keep possession of your belongings as much as possible. Is that an officer could try to hand you a normal looking item, and in the stress of the moment you may not have noticed it wasn’t yours.  

A normal item like a debit card or knife are paraphernalia if drug residue is found on them.  

The obvious defense for the cop in this instance is you wouldn’t have accepted it if it wasn’t yours, regardless of if the item was yours to begin with.  

Nobody wants to get caught in that type of legal battle.  

A few tips I can give is when an officer says you dropped something don’t be quick to accept.

Ensure the item is yours before you ever touch it.   

Plants in the Garbage Pot  

You probably think it’s bad enough when the raccoons get in your trash. But the police actually have the ability to legally search through your trash without a warrant.   

This method is commonly referred to as “Trash pulls”.  

The first time I had heard about this privilege was when I moved to the state of Kansas. People that lived in the city of Salina told me that this was something the police there did commonly.   

It sounds ridiculous, but the police would actually use this method in order to get search warrants. Anything that related to the use of cannabis use or drugs would be a reason to search a house. Though this method does not initially indicate if somebody is a user or provider.  

A lot of people would sleep a lot safer at night if they thought of the police searching trash cans as a last resort the police use to catch king pin drug dealers or murderers. But unfortunately, that type of dignity belongs in Hollywood movies.  

When Police Can Not Search In Your Trash

The police can’t search through your trash if it’s on your property. That means the police can’t just walk up into your yard and start opening bags, if it has not been put out for collection or been collected.  

The police may still request for your bags to be brought to them by waste management. I don’t hear about the workers who take care of my trash planting drugs as much as officers though.  

There are no real ways to prevent a cop from planting drugs in your waste, only preventive measures.  Here are a few:

• Don’t keep you trash outside your yard if it is fenced in. 
• Place it a few feet away from the curb, if possible.

If the officer would have to step foot on your property to plant the drugs, they risk the case being thrown out.   

Surveillance is the Best Protection Against the State  

Surveillance is the best defense people have against crimes like this being committed.  

The video clips in this article were caught by either the bystanders or the body camera of an unsuspecting cop. The fact is the victims of these crimes got lucky.  

Dash cams are probably the one of best things to have in your vehicle to protect you from this crime. Many people also seem to plop their phone on the dash of their vehicle and use it as a GPS or for music. Turn on selfie mode and record if you’re one of them. The police cannot tamper with your phone or delete videos. 

Until Body cameras and the laws surrounding them are taken more seriously, the heinousness of police planting drugs and other false evidence will indefinitely continue.