(Bloomberg) -- Compiling grisly photographs from accident and crime scenes into “ghoul books” is a longstanding, problematic tradition among police officers in southern California, a law enforcement expert said in a trial over leaks of photos from a helicopter crash where NBA superstar Kobe Bryant was killed.

Law enforcement needs to develop specific and clear policies when it comes to taking and sharing such photos, Adam Bercovici, who spent 30 years in law enforcement, told a jury in Los Angeles Friday.

“Police officers want something special to show their friends,” Bercovici said. “The more graphic, the better.” He added that “it’s a human failing.”

Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, and Orange County financial adviser Christopher Chester, whose wife and daughter were among those killed in the crash, sued Los Angeles County for negligence and invasion of privacy after it came to light that police officers were sharing photos of the remains of the victims. They’re seeking unspecified damages.

Bryant, widely regarded as one of the best professional basketball players of all time who spent his 20-year career playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, was killed with his daughter and seven others when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in cloudy weather in January 2020.

Luella Weireter, a wife of a firefighter, testified one of her husband’s colleagues showed photos on his phone of remains from the crash site to a small group of people who were attending the Golden Mike Awards in February 2020.

Weireter, whose cousin was killed in the crash, said she didn’t look at the pictures but one of the firefighters commented that he saw “Kobe’s burnt up body.”

The jury heard Thursday that a sheriff’s deputy shared photos of the remains of the victims with a bartender in Norwalk shortly after the crash.

Such behavior isn’t unusual, Bercovici said.

He told the jury he recalled seeing graphic Polaroids of Nicole Brown Simpson, who was murdered, being passed around by officers in the summer of 1994.

“You need a clear policy,” Bercovici said. “Otherwise, it’s chaos.”

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