CITY WANTS OVERHAUL OF AREA DRUG SQUAD

NEENAH, Wis. -- City leaders want an administrative overhaul of a
four-county undercover drug enforcement team in the wake of a botched raid
staged by the unit in 1998.

Neenah officials recently agreed to pay a $50,000 settlement to Daniel and
Cynthia Cuervo, whose Neenah home was illegally entered and searched by the
Lake Winnebago Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group.

In a separate settlement, Outagamie County paid the Cuervos $17,500.

The MEG team had a warrant to search the apartment next door, said attorney
John Peterson, who filed claims for the Cuervos.

Neenah officials said the raid highlights concerns about MEG's lack of a
unifying governmental structure -- and the potential financial liability of
individual municipalities when MEG operations go awry.

Neenah City Attorney Jim Gunz said the city will petition the MEG advisory
board to re-establish itself into an independently insured governmental
entity by the year's end.

"There isn't any structure,'' he said. "The MEG unit is not a legal entity
and, therefore, it cannot be sued. That means everyone runs for cover when
something goes wrong.''

Winnebago County Sheriff Mike Brooks, chairman of the advisory board, said
he and other members would probably support the request.