Pubdate: Thu, 11 Nov 2004
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2004 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: Matt Stiles / The Dallas Morning News
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

CITY APOLOGIZES FOR FAKE-DRUG SCANDAL

Unanimous Vote Seen As Move Toward Financial Settlement With Victims

The Dallas City Council apologized to victims of the 2001 fake-drug scandal 
Wednesday, unanimously passing a resolution that expressed "deep remorse" 
for the false arrests.

The measure also offered apologies to the victims' families and the city's 
residents for breakdowns at the Police Department while calling on 
officials to continue shoring up procedures.

"It is very, very tragic what happened to a great number of people, and I 
think we are on the right track now," said Mayor Pro Tem John Loza, calling 
the cases a "shameful episode in our city's history."

Such a rare public admission of fault likely signals the city's willingness 
to acknowledge legal and financial responsibility in the numerous federal 
civil-rights lawsuits filed by victims.

The measure, which passed Wednesday evening without much comment from 
council members, also aims to make sure future city leaders don't forget 
the scandal.

It erupted in late 2001 after more than two dozen people, mostly Hispanic 
immigrants, went to jail that summer and fall based on bogus drug evidence 
planted by corrupt police informants.

The resolution states that those false arrests - which have led to criminal 
charges against several former narcotics officers and the informants - 
should be "indelibly etched in our history," so that similar mistakes 
aren't repeated.

Probably a first

Calling it an "extraordinary step," City Attorney Madeleine Johnson said 
such a vote expressing remorse for city failures probably is unprecedented 
in the city's history.

The two-page resolution asks officials to continue searching for reasons 
why the department's "system designed to fight a war on drugs was subverted 
so that innocent people became its casualties."

Later, it calls on Ms. Johnson to begin "good faith" settlement talks with 
the victims' attorneys, who couldn't be reached for comment.

Representatives of Ms. Johnson's office already have attended court-ordered 
mediation sessions with most, if not all, of the plaintiffs' attorneys. She 
said the city would now get serious - and specific - when talking about 
monetary settlements for the victims.

"This is something the city very much would like to be resolved," Ms. 
Johnson said. "This is about people who got caught up in this innocently."

Attorneys on both sides won't predict the potential costs of such 
settlements, but the number of cases and plaintiffs suggest the final 
figure could total hundreds of thousands of dollars - or perhaps even 
millions - to dispose of the suits outside courtrooms.

Ms. Johnson said the cases could be settled in the "near future," but 
declined to speculate further. The amount of the monetary settlements would 
be made public, she said.

Changes made

City and police officials have said they've already taken many steps to 
ensure that a similar scandal doesn't happen again.

The narcotics division, for example, has tightened its procedures, and the 
officers and supervisors involved in the cases also have either been fired 
or transferred to other areas.

The city also recently appointed two outside lawyers, Terence Hart and Lena 
Levario, to investigate the matter. Last month, after a 10-month inquiry, 
the pair released a scathing report that cited sloppy police work by 
narcotics officers and lax supervision by commanders as contributors to the 
series of bogus arrests.

The pair also released numerous new recommendations, including further 
steps to bolster money-handling procedures and to more stringently oversee 
informants. The lawyers also suggested more training, among other ideas.

Police Chief David Kunkle said last month that he supported the ideas. 
Still, the resolution created a city committee that would ensure that those 
recommendations are implemented "as soon as practical."

Council member Elba Garcia, who was moved to tears Oct. 20 when addressing 
some of the victims after the two lawyers announced their findings, said 
the Wednesday vote "shows that we are ready to move forward and make sure 
that this never happens again."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager