Pubdate: Tue, 09 Aug 2005
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL)
Copyright: 2005 News-Journal Corporation
Contact:  http://www.news-journalonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/700
Note: gives priority to local writers
Author: Lyda Longa, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

DETECTIVE SUSPECT IN CRACK CASE

8-Year Veteran Quits Daytona Beach Police Force During Investigation

DAYTONA BEACH -- A veteran undercover narcotics detective resigned recently 
during an internal affairs investigation that focused on whether the 
detective was buying crack cocaine to feed his own habit.

Jude Otero, 35, quit his job with the Daytona Beach Police Department on 
July 13, records show. An eight-year veteran with the city, Otero, who 
could not be reached for comment, is suspected of buying crack for his own 
use from a long-time confidential informant who is well known to police and 
has testified often in drug-related cases.

According to an internal affairs investigation report released Monday, 
Otero also is suspected of either taking drugs or pretending to find drugs 
at the house of a man who called police to complain about the detective's 
behavior.

The man told internal affairs officials that Otero would drop by his 
residence on Hillcrest Drive "a lot" and search the premises.

"Yeah and he always finds something, always," the man who complained Jerry 
Swindle, told police in a statement. "He act like he would find something 
and he would always tell whoever was there 'Oh, don't worry about it. I 
ain't goin' to arrest nobody today.' "

Swindle said Otero routinely swept through the residence, opening drawers 
and lifting mattresses in search of cocaine.

The investigation against Otero was launched in late April, said Sgt. Al 
Tolley. That's when the informant, whose name was not revealed, called 
detectives in the Police Department's narcotics squad and told them about a 
call she received from Otero.

The informant said Otero, who was off-duty at the time, wanted to buy $30 
worth of crack cocaine the night of April 22. He claimed the drugs were for 
another police officer who had lost some evidence and needed the crack for 
a drug sting.

The informant, seasoned in drug sting operations with police, said she grew 
suspicious because Otero insisted on seeing her alone -- a practice that's 
forbidden by the narcotics squad and the Police Department, said Daytona 
Beach Sgt. Joe Heller in a statement to internal affairs investigators.

"We don't meet with sources and informants -- whether male or female -- 
with one detective and the source," Heller said. "It's always at least two 
detectives."

Heller also said investigators are required to log in their meetings with 
confidential sources, something Otero never did when he met with this 
particular informant.

Otero's personnel file shows complaints of excessive force, but none were 
founded, Tolley said. The detective was transferred to the patrol division 
briefly in 2001 after crashing his city-issued vehicle while off duty.

Because Otero failed to show up for a meeting with internal affairs 
investigators in early May, then resigned in July, the only conclusion 
drawn on the probe against him was he "resigned while under investigation," 
Tolley said.

The internal affairs investigation will be forwarded to the Florida 
Department of Law Enforcement's Criminal Justice Standards and Training 
Commission to determine whether his police certification should be revoked.

"There is zero tolerance on the use of illegal drugs by an officer," Tolley 
said.
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