Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jun 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: Shannon Tangonan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption)

EXPERTS SET TO REVIEW METRO NARCOTICS UNIT IN WAKE OF SCANDAL

A team of law-enforcement experts is to arrive today to audit the 
Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Narcotics Unit in the wake of a scandal 
that led to indictments against two county police detectives.

The team from the Police Executive Research Forum, or PERF, will be in 
Louisville all week to conduct interviews, collect data and observe 
operations of Metro Narcotics, said Lt. Col. Mike Simpson, deputy county 
police chief.

''We hope to get a completely objective review,'' Simpson said. The 
auditors will take a close look at every operating procedure ''and see how 
it stacks up to national standards.''

Craig Fraser, PERF's director of management services who will direct the 
project, said the audit will assess current operations to see what 
improvements can be made rather than focusing on issues surrounding the 
criminal investigation of the two detectives.

A $60,000 contract between the county police and PERF was approved in April 
by Fiscal Court.

Metro Narcotics, staffed by both county and Louisville police officers, is 
currently under county jurisdiction. Under the system of rotating 
leadership, city police will take command of the unit in January.

PERF, based in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit organization whose mission 
is to improve policing.

After the March indictments of former detectives Mark Watson and Christie 
Richardson -- each charged with more than 450 counts -- county police Chief 
William Carcara said the department would take a critical look at Metro 
Narcotics' operations.

Watson and Richardson, partners in the unit, are accused of fabricating 
information to obtain search warrants, tampering with drug evidence, 
pocketing money meant to pay informants and forging judges' signatures. 
They have both pleaded innocent and resigned from the force.

PERF's Fraser, who has conducted several police agency management studies 
and performance audits, said the goal is to complete the audit by the end 
of summer.

The study will review everything from recruiting and certifying informants 
to procedures used to collect, process and store evidence, according to the 
contract between county police and PERF.

''There's a willingness there to bring in a team of outsiders and say, 'We 
want another view,' '' Fraser said, adding that agencies often conduct 
their own audits, which may or may not be as comprehensive.

PERF auditors will conduct interviews, observe work routines and may even 
ride along with Metro Narcotics detectives, Fraser said.

The data will be compiled in a report that will be reviewed by national 
experts including Michael D. Schrunk, district attorney of Multnomah 
County, Ore., chairman of a regional organized crime narcotics task force; 
Ronald Goldstock, the longtime head of the New York State Organized Crime 
Task Force; Drew Diamond, PERF deputy director and community policing 
expert; and Clifford Karchmer, PERF director of program development, Fraser 
said.

The on-site team members also have extensive law-enforcement backgrounds, 
including experience in managing or working in narcotics units, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom