Pubdate: Wed, 30 Oct 2002
Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY)
Copyright: 2002 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Author: Andrew Wolfson, The Courier-Journal
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1867/a09.html

COUNTY CHIEF BACKS REPORT ON DRUG UNIT

Police Missed Warning Signs From Detectives

Jefferson County Police Chief William Carcara said he agrees with an 
external evaluation that found Metro Narcotics supervisors missed warning 
signs that two detectives allegedly were fabricating search warrants and 
taking informants' pay.

In an interview yesterday, Carcara said he already has adopted some of the 
69 recommendations from the Police Executive Research Forum, based in 
Washington. Its review team found that supervisors focused too much on the 
extraordinary number of searches and arrests by detectives Mark Watson and 
Christie Richardson.

Carcara said the drug unit is adopting a new evaluation process that weighs 
the quality of arrests and whether they result in convictions.

He also said the unit's detectives, even those on street units, are being 
encouraged to pursue larger cases involving higherlevel dealers.

Carcara said a new voicerecognition system will go online next month. Under 
the system, officers will be required to call in on a special phone to 
prove they are in court. The system can be modified later to record the 
disposition of cases, Carcara said.

The Courier-Journal reported in March that 21 of Watson's 41 cases last 
year were dropped because he didn't appear in court but that he nonetheless 
received court overtime pay in 10 of the dropped cases.

Last month the newspaper reported that a draft of the review said that it 
was notable that Metro Narcotics did not include successful prosecution of 
cases as a critical part of job performance. The report also said the unit 
had no way to check whether cases were dismissed because officers failed to 
appear in court.

Despite the criticism of the drug unit's management, Carcara said he was 
pleased with the report.

''We already were scandalized,'' he said. ''I opened the door and let them 
look through our dirty laundry. . . . I didn't want any ghosts hanging over 
the unit or any thoughts that police were covering up our problems.''

He also said the evaluation ''vindicated our belief that these problems 
were isolated to the two detectives under indictment.''

Carcara ordered the $60,000 study after Watson and Richardson, who were 
partners in Metro Narcotics, were indicted in March on more than 450 counts 
of theft, burglary and perjury, leading to the dismissal of dozens of their 
cases and to many convictions being set aside.

The detectives, who resigned from the county department, have pleaded 
innocent and will be tried Jan. 14 in Jefferson Circuit Court. Their 
lawyers have said the report unfairly assumes the ex-detectives are guilty.

Carcara said no supervisors have been punished or transferred as a result 
of the report, or for failing to detect alleged misconduct that spanned 
seven years.

''We are talking about 10 sergeants'' over that period ''who were duped, 
suckered or didn't do their jobs,'' Carcara said.

Carcara said he has adopted some of the report's recommendations, including 
one that requires a commanding officer to witness payments to informants. 
The rules previously allowed detectives to observe payouts made by their 
partners.

''We never thought we would have a tandem of officers working to beat the 
system together,'' Carcara said.

He said broader changes should be left until after January, when city and 
county governments will merge.

Metro Narcotics is staffed by both Jefferson County and Louisville police 
officers. It's now under the county department's control, but city police 
are scheduled to take command in January. Carcara said he doesn't know what 
will happen then.

Louisville police Chief Greg Smith could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Carcara said Metro Narcotics detectives probably will strongly resist one 
of the report's major recommendations -- that detectives be rotated out of 
the unit after a set number of years ''to diminish the opportunities for 
disgruntled or criminal-minded officers to do harm to the organization.''

Carcara said jobs in Metro Narcotics are coveted because they offer the 
opportunity for unlimited overtime. Detectives contend it can take years to 
learn how to do the job right.

It may be more practical to periodically rotate detectives inside the unit 
and to make them switch partners, Carcara said.

The Police Executive Research Forum is a nonprofit organization whose 
mission is to improve policing. Its team of law-enforcement experts came to 
Louisville in June to interview current and former members of Metro 
Narcotics, review procedures and observe the unit in action.

Its report said supervisors missed warning signs about Watson and 
Richardson, including that their searches always seemed to turn up drug 
evidence. Watson was reported to be renowned for going into locations 
already searched by experienced officers and quickly finding drugs they 
supposedly had overlooked.

Only minor changes were made in the final report, compared with the draft 
obtained by the newspaper.

The review team toned down accusations made by some former Metro Narcotics 
officers that Watson received ''a very high level of internal protection 
from senior county police staff,'' and that some complaints against him 
weren't taken seriously because an ''internal network of friends'' in the 
department ''attributed the complaints to jealousy.''

The final report says that while there are ''perceptions that allegations 
of deceit received little close scrutiny because of established trusting 
relationships with persons at higher ranks,'' the few documented complaints 
against Watson and Richardson through the years were handled properly.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D