The City of Baltimore Police Department (BPD) is embroiled in a massive corruption scandal. During the corruption trial, the department’s Gun Trace Task Force which is tasked to keeping illegal guns off the streets, kept replica BB guns in their cars in case they “accidentally hit somebody.”
According to Maurice Ward, a former detective who served in the unit, Sgt. Wayne Jenkins who is the unit supervisor instructed the officers to carry replica guns so that they have something to plant in case they are in a jam according to a report in Baltimore Sun. This can mean that in case they shoot an unarmed suspect dead during an operation, they can plant the gun on the dead body and report that the suspect drew a gun on them forcing them to shoot.
Cases of people being shot for carrying replica firearms such as airsoft guns by the police have been in the news. The prominent one was the Tamir Rice case in Cleveland, Ohio in 2014 where police officers shot and killed 12-year old Tamir Rice who was carrying an airsoft gun in a playground. The City of Cleveland settled with the Rice family for US$6 million.
A WE Airsoft G17 Pistol. The Glock 17 pistol was one of the service pistols used by the Baltimore Police Department. It has been replaced by the Glock 22 .40 caliber pistol.
Ward did not mention any incident in which the officers in the unit ever planted a gun on anyone. But such a practice puts into doubt the credibility of the BPD.
The Baltimore sun reports that one of the defendants in the case, Detective Marcus Taylor, was arrested in 2016 and authorities found a replica gun in his glove compartment. The corruption case involves 8 members of the Task Force with 6 already having pled guilty to racketeering charges.
The trial is still ongoing.