POLICE DRUG UNITS MUDDY LIABILITY

Multi-Agency Mistake May Cost 1 Department

The premise of multi-jurisdictional drug units is to unite law
enforcement agencies to fight the war on drugs.

The power is in the number of officers working together.

But when a mistake is made, it could be just one municipality left
holding the bag.

Such is the case in Neenah, where the city had to pay the largest
portion of a settlement involving a botched drug raid because it was
a Neenah police officer who knocked on the wrong door.

"Our biggest concern is that we need accountability and when a group
is multi-jurisdictional, there needs to be some way to hold the group
accountable and not the individual" governments, said Neenah Mayor
Ken Harwood.

"We try and work together for the betterment of the communities and
run some risks for doing it - and that's not right," Harwood said.

Communities in Waukesha County may experience the problem firsthand.

On Valentine's Day, members of the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Unit
forced a woman to the ground and handcuffed her during a botched drug
bust in Muskego.

Susan Wilson, 49, has filed a claim - a necessary step before filing
a lawsuit - against the county seeking $1 million in compensatory
damages for alleged pain, suffering, embarrassment, humiliation and
violation of her civil rights, as well as $200,000 in punitive
damages.

The claim names as potential defendants the county and several
officers, including Muskego Police Officer Eric Nowicki, who led the
raid. The claim states that Nowicki failed to follow proper procedure
and was not adequately trained.

Although officials from the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department and
the Muskego Police Department would not comment on the case, Waukesha
County Corporation Counsel Thomas Farley agreed that one department
could be held responsible.

A drug unit is not a separate corporation, Farley said. "There is no
fiscal backing, and I'm not sure insurance companies would want to
insure something like that."

Officers in the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Unit are insured
through their own departments, Farley said. Besides Muskego,
communities that belong to the drug unit include Brookfield,
Menomonee Falls, Waukesha, the Village of Pewaukee and the Waukesha
County Sheriff's Department, which supervises the unit.

Steve Werner, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Professional Police
Association and a former Waukesha police officer who served on a drug
unit, said he's heard that the liability issue has forced some
communities to consider dropping out of the program.

That, he said, would be detrimental to the largely federally funded
program. The funding is based on maintaining multi-jurisdictional
relationships, Werner added.

"If there is someone out there preaching about some liability issue,
it's not that we're on a witch hunt, but we need to know who it is
and make sure they are giving correct information," Werner said.

"If there are problems with the program, we can address them," he said.

Drug units grew out of the federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act in 1986. Since
then, 32 anti-drug task forces have formed in Wisconsin, said Steve
Grohmann, from the state Office of Justice Assistance, which collects
data and disperses federal grants for the program.

Since the Feb. 14 botched drug bust in Muskego, Waukesha County
Sheriff William Kruziki reassigned three drug unit officers.

Nowicki returned to police patrol, but the Muskego Police Department
has not replaced him in the drug unit, and he may not return, said
Police Chief John Johnson.

"We are still evaluating. We are looking at our options," Johnson said.

Mark Phillips, Wilson's attorney in the ill-fated Muskego raid, said
the sheriff's department should take over the entire liability of the
drug unit.

"If the county would not indemnify these officers, I wouldn't send
them to the task force," Phillips said. "If the unit messes up, even
if your guy didn't make the mistake, you will be getting sued."

The price has already been paid for gun-wielding officers entering
the Neenah apartment belonging to Daniel and Cindy Cuervo in 1998.
Daniel Cuervo was forced to the floor before officers realized they
were in the wrong apartment and left.

Of the $67,000 paid to the Cuervos, Neenah paid $50,000. Outagamie
County paid the rest.

And now Neenah Mayor Harwood is asking that the Metropolitan
Enforcement Group - which includes 10 departments serving Winnebago,
Outagamie, Calumet and Fond du Lac counties - to look at a way to
improve accountability and liability before the city considers
continuing in the program.