BALTIMORE (CBSDC/AP) — The Baltimore police department is asking a federal judge to dismiss a suit that alleges city officers deleted videos from a man’s mobile phone after he recorded a confrontation between officers and a friend at the Preakness.

The judge will hear arguments Monday in the case in which the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland challenges the detention of Christopher Sharp, the seizure of his phone and the deletion of the recordings as unconstitutional.

ACLU Legal Director Deborah Jeon said, “Police officers doing their jobs in a public place are accountable to the public they serve, and camera phones have become an important accountability tool.”

The police department’s motion argues that relief can’t be granted for any of the suit’s claims and the point is moot because the department now trains officers to allow recordings.

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked the judge to side with Sharp. It’s the first time the department has weighed in on such a case.

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