Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jan 2014
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2014 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Authors: Mark Fazlollah and Aubrey Whelan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

MORE NARCOTICS-UNIT FALLOUT

Federal Grand Jury Probing Allegations Against Phila. Officers.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey confirmed Friday that a federal 
grand jury has been impaneled to probe allegations against former 
members of Philadelphia's narcotics unit.

During a news conference at Police Headquarters on an unrelated 
matter, Ramsey volunteered that six former narcotics officers had 
been pulled off street duty and a seventh was in custody. The 
declaration was the first public acknowledgment of the grand jury's 
involvement.

Ramsey said that the department's Internal Affairs unit and 
corruption task force and the FBI were part of the investigation, and 
that they had been working closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Four of the officers - Perry Betts, Michael Spicer, Thomas 
Liciardello, and Brian Reynolds - had been moved from the Narcotics 
Field Unit in December 2012 and placed in lower-profile departmental jobs.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia has repeatedly declined to 
confirm or deny the existence of the probe or the grand jury.

The 2012 action came after the District Attorney's Office informed 
Ramsey that prosecutors no longer wanted to call the officers to 
testify in drug cases. The District Attorney's Office was concerned 
about the officers' credibility, sources said.

Attorneys for those officers could not be reached for comment.

The two others who were pulled from the street - Sgt. Joseph 
McCloskey and Officer Linwood Norman - worked closely with those 
narcotics officers for many years.

No charges have been filed against the six officers, but all were 
required to surrender their guns, a department spokeswoman said. She 
said all were now assigned to desk duty, five at Police Headquarters 
and one in Traffic Court.

Ramsey also said a narcotics officer, Jeffrey Walker, was in custody. 
Walker was arrested on federal corruption charges in May in a sting 
operation by FBI agents working with police investigators. They 
recorded Walker bragging about how easy it was to rob drug dealers.

Ramsey gave no details on the investigation, other than saying it 
involved a federal grand jury. He offered no specifics, since federal 
law requires secrecy of the grand jury's work.

Since the December 2012 transfer of the narcotics officers, 
Philadelphia courts have dismissed hundred of drug arrests.

The city has been hit with about 40 federal civil rights lawsuits 
involving the officers. Many of the suits allege that the officers 
framed suspect with false testimony and evidence.

Public defender Bradley S. Bridge, who has been involved in many of 
the convictions of people arrested by the drug unit, applauded 
Ramsey's actions.

"That these officers have now been taken off the street is 
significant," Bridge said. "Substantial questions have arisen 
regarding the propriety of their actions while making arrests. Until 
those questions have been answered satisfactorily, the most prudent 
course is to prevent them from making more questionable arrests."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom