Police Download ReportHuntington Beach police training involved planting evidence until recent publicity
Amazing. So Huntington Beach Police Chief Kenneth Small on Saturday told the press that officers routinely plant evidence in the vehicles of arrested suspects so that they can help train new officers to search for contraband. Not just drugs either, but loaded firearms too! Small offered no apology, nor did he give an opinion about the department policy.
From The Orange County Register:
But Cox said he was feet away from Officer Brian Knorr that January evening when Knorr flung the gun into the trunk.“I was thinking, ‘what the hell is this?’” said Cox, a 45-year-old construction superintendent. “I thought I was going to get a weapons charge. I thought I was going to get my ass kicked.”
An officer found the gun minutes later, Cox said.
“That’s not my gun!” Cox said he shouted.
Cox had been pulled over by police after a witness said he saw Cox hit another vehicle and flee the scene.
Cox said he was never told the officers were performing a training exercise.
A few days later, after getting harassed no doubt by people all over the country who heard about Officer Knorr being exonerated, the Chief changed his tune.
From The Orange County Register:
Police will stop planting unloaded weapons, fake drugs and other props in unsuspecting civilians’ cars as a way to help train officers to search vehicles, Chief Ken Small said Monday.Small decided to halt use of the Huntington Beach department’s training method two days after the practice was detailed in The Orange County Register, sparking surprise among law enforcement experts and concern among some community members.
“When we look at the value of the training exercise as opposed to the possible perception of people seeing it, we just think it’s not worth continuing,” Small said Monday in a telephone interview. “It’s done very infrequently.”
I agree wholeheartedly with this common sense editorial printed in the Register on Dec 5th:
Register readers learned Dec. 2 of a Huntington Beach Police Department policy that almost defies words. The department admitted that it at least occasionally plants evidence – i.e., weapons, drug paraphernalia, fake drugs – in vehicles of unsuspecting drivers who may have been pulled over for speeding or other offenses.The department said that such evidence-planting is done as part of training exercises – an attempt to teach rookie cops how to find hidden evidence in real-world situations. But the problems with such a policy, as several law enforcement specialists noted, are numerous. It’s dangerous to throw around loaded weapons. It’s a violation of a suspect’s property. It can even encourage corruption.
Fortunately, in the face of public criticism of the policy, Chief Kenneth Small told us Monday that the policy is ending immediately. “We don’t think it’s a good idea,” he told us. “We won’t be using people’s private vehicles [for such training any more].” Good for him for doing the right thing.
“The training practice came to light Friday after a Huntington Beach man said he learned that an officer who planted a handgun in his car during a traffic stop was exonerated of wrongdoing,” according to a Register report. “Thomas Cox … said he watched in horror as another officer found the gun in the trunk of his Hyundai, igniting laughter among officers.” The incident was first reported in an OC Weekly article last month.
Mr. Cox, who was convicted of several traffic violations and possession of marijuana, filed a complaint with the department after Officer Brian Knorr threw the loaded gun into his car. Officer Knorr admitted during the trial that he did that, and although Chief Small said using a loaded gun was against department policy and that planting the evidence in front of Cox “could have been done in a better way,” the officer was exonerated. Mr. Small said he didn’t want to punish one officer given that the policy was not well understood department-wide.
The district attorney’s office told us that it disagrees with any policy that allows an officer to plant a loaded weapon or other contraband in a car.
The Register reported that a similar policy in Las Vegas led one man to be falsely charged with drug possession “after a canine officer forgot to retrieve drugs planted in the man’s car.” Clearly, such policies can lead to false arrests and a lack of justice.
We’re also disturbed by reports that Officer Knorr was laughing at the suspect while he did this. There’s certainly nothing illegal about police acting in such an unprofessional way, but this behavior – and the lack of punishment for it – should not make Huntington Beach residents feel any better about their department. It should go without saying that when a person is pulled over for a violation, that he or she should not have guns, drugs, fake drugs or anything else planted in the car. And those arrested should be treated fairly and respectfully.
Fortunately, Chief Small has decided to change the “training” policy. But it’s one more reminder of the need for more oversight over the way law enforcement operates in this county.
