Baltimore Police Trial: How did this happen for five years?

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/disgraced-baltimore-police-officer-says-detective-who-was-killed-testifying-n844831

As the Baltimore Police trial involving Baltimore police lying, cheating, stealing, and carrying fake guns to plant on people comes to a close, it brings an important issue to light: how did this go on for so long?

According to the evidence, the conduct of these rogue cops went on for five years. The problems are obvious to anyone who is familiar with the system. It is incredibly reliant on a police officer being honest.

However, being honest can have its downfalls because many cases do have holes in them. Thus, being honest can result in losing a case. So, some police officers discovered an incredibly effective trick: they could just lie. Even in the age of video, many jurisdictions do not have or use video, so the case often comes down to the word of the officer against the word of someone accused of a crime. Someone who may have other criminal history and skeletons. Thus, it often does not go very well for that person.

This is not something new. The testilying police problem has been looked into. One corrupt Baltimore officer summarized the problem: drug dealers probably are not going to come forward anyway. Even when they do, who is going to believe them over a cop?

With the advent of video, body cameras, and dash cameras, how is this still happening? Well, for one, cameras are not required in many jurisdictions. There is very little political will for police accountability in these places. Two, in many of the areas that do have cameras, there is not full disclosure of them, or the police choose when to turn them on or what portions to upload.

Thus, if you have the unfortunate circumstance of a dishonest officer, a body camera under that officer's control is going to make little difference (unless they accidentally record themselves or something).

These dishonest police are the exception to the rule, but this is still a significant problem. Body cameras should be required for all policing interactions and either all information should be available or only a distinct, independent body should control the camera data. While option one may generate a ton of data, and the other would still input people into the system, thus leaving open the possibility of corruption, these are better options than having another Baltimore-like instance.