Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Author: Jamaal Abdul-Alim of the Journal Sentinel Contact: Fax: (414) 224-8280 Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 Website: http://www.jsonline.com/ Security Firm's Use Of Handcuffs, Searches For Drugs Raise Questions Apartment Resident Says That With Company, 'I Have No Rights' A well-known security company that monitors dozens of Milwaukee apartment buildings has been handcuffing people, subjecting them to personal searches and scouring their homes for drugs -- all without search powers and law enforcement status. Authorities say the tactics used by Lucas Security raise serious questions about whether the company has been overstepping legal boundaries designed to protect people from false imprisonment and unlawful searches. "(Security guards) don't have any authority above and beyond a regular citizen as far as depriving someone of their liberty, confining them or searching them," said Robert Ganch, staff attorney at the state Department of Regulation and Licensing, without referring specifically to the security company. "A citizen does have the right to arrest another person, but that appears, according to case law, to be only in situations where a felony has been committed in their presence, or a misdemeanor which is a breach of the peace." Richard Lucas, president of Lucas Security, said he handcuffs people while confronting them with allegations of using drugs or selling drugs from their apartments for his own safety. "Some say it's illegal to do it. Some say it is legal," Lucas said. "We've never had any problems with it." Lucas Security, one of the largest security firms in Milwaukee, has about 50 employees and contracts to provide security for about 100 apartment buildings throughout the city. Some of the buildings are low-income housing or housing for people with disabilities. The company also has contracts with the state crime lab and the State Office Building. During a recent patrol in the presence of a reporter, Lucas and two armed security guards handcuffed a half-dozen people while checking out complaints that they were using or selling drugs. The trio also searched the people and looked through one of their apartments. "I'm gonna 'cuff you every day," Lucas told a 51-year-old resident identified as Spence. "I don't understand," Spence said in an interview after the incident. "Police won't put handcuffs on me. But with Lucas, I have no rights." Spence said Lucas has handcuffed him and searched his apartment without his consent on several occasions. Asked whether he reported Lucas to authorities, Spence laughed and said, "Who the heck can I tell?" Lt. Earnell Lucas, a public information officer for the Milwaukee Police Department, said people who think they have been handcuffed illegally should call the police. "Under Wisconsin law, it is a crime for anyone to intentionally confine or restrain another person with knowledge that he or she has no lawful authority to do so," said Lucas (no relation to Richard Lucas), without referring specifically to the security company. Ganch said "confining" someone includes placing a person in handcuffs. John Temby, administrator of the Regulation and Licensing Department's Division of Enforcement, which investigates wrongdoings by security guards and private detectives, said the state has no record of complaints against Lucas Security. "We wouldn't know about it unless someone made a complaint," Temby said. Temby said people should call the state Department of Regulation and Licensing if they think they have been illegally handcuffed. The department is responsible for licensing security guards and private detectives. On the evening in which Spence was handcuffed, three other visitors inside his apartment in the 800 block of N. 35th St. also were handcuffed. Spence had opened his door after one of Lucas' employees knocked on it and pretended to be "Peaches," a known area prostitute. "You know the procedure," Lucas then announced to the group. Lucas and his security guards searched the men and the apartment. They found two crack pipes and some steel wool -- used to smoke crack cocaine through the pipes -- prompting Lucas to call police. They arrived in minutes but did not make any arrests. Later the same day, Lucas and his security guards showed up at the apartment of Betty Vance, 35, in the 2600 block of W. Juneau Ave. Vance let Lucas and his employees enter her apartment after Lucas, who was suspicious of drug traffic in her apartment, asked to talk with her and her live-in companion. While they talked, the apartment buzzer went off, announcing that someone wanted to come up. Lucas took it upon himself to buzz back, allowing the visitor in. When the visitor arrived at the apartment, Lucas opened the door, and a man was standing there holding a $10 bill in his hand. Lucas ushered him in, ordered him up against the wall and handcuffed him. He also handcuffed Vance's companion. "People just happen to buy drugs with $10 bills," Lucas told the visitor as he instructed one of his employees to call police. The man with the $10 bill said he was just returning the money Vance's companion had given him to buy $40 worth of food stamps on the street. When police arrived and asked Lucas why he summoned them, Lucas told them he had "squashed it," as if he had taken care of the situation and the police were no longer needed. Vance refused to allow Lucas' security guards to search her apartment because they had no search warrant. And she said after the incident that she thought the guards -- who were wearing uniforms that bear a striking resemblance to Milwaukee police uniforms -- were real police officers. "It was just totally wrong," Vance said after the incident. "They had no reason to handcuff him," she added, referring to her companion. Although the owner of the building where Vance resides could not be reached, maintenance manager John Washington said he has seen Lucas handcuff and search people on several occasions. "If you're not thinking fast, he'll have you up against the wall in a minute," Washington said. Washington said Lucas and his security guards even looked around his apartment for drugs once after he called them to check out something else. "He comes looking for trouble," Washington said of Lucas. "Sometimes, it's nice to see him come. Sometimes, it ain't."