COP PROBED OVER RACIST POSTER

Cartoon Found in Locker of Narcotics Squad Member

INSIDE the locker of a narcotics cop, Philadelphia police officials
recently made a shocking discovery: A cartoon of a man, half as an
officer in uniform and half as a Klansman with the words: "Blue By Day
- - White By Night. White Power," according to police officials.

The officer, Scott Schweizer, who has arrested countless drug suspects
in predominantly African-American neighborhoods, was removed from his
undercover police duties and given a desk job earlier this month,
authorities said.

The disturbing find triggered an internal probe that widened yesterday
as investigators began to explore whether the scope of the case is
limited to Schweizer or somehow broader.

"It's certainly of great concern that someone would even think it's
appropriate or think it's OK to even put something like that in a
locker," Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said yesterday. "We
don't condone that kind of behavior."

Schweizer could face administrative action ranging from a written
reprimand to dismissal. Schweizer did not return a phone call from the
Daily News and did not respond to a note left by a reporter at his
Northeast Philly home yesterday afternoon.

Roosevelt Poplar, a vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police,
Lodge 5, in Philadelphia, said he was aware of the investigation but
did not know its scope.

"We have no idea what the investigation entails at this time," Poplar
said. "We have to give every member the benefit of the doubt before we
make any statements or come to any conclusion."

Schweizer, 33, joined the force in June 1997 and makes $54,794 a year,
city payroll records show. He became part of the elite Narcotics
Strike Force about six years ago. As an undercover, plainclothes cop
who worked day and night shifts, Schweizer was part of a surveillance
team that watched drug buys and locked up hundreds of suspected drug
dealers. He frequently testified in court as a witness for
prosecutors.

Now law enforcement and legal experts question whether Schweizer's
alleged behavior could jeopardize drug cases in which he was the
arresting officer.

The case against Schweizer began earlier this month after an officer
saw the racist drawing on the inside door of Schweizer's locker and
complained to superiors.

"The investigation involves obviously very inappropriate material,"
police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said. "The material itself was
disturbing and it launched an immediate internal investigation."

Supervisors within the Narcotics Strike Force treated Schweizer's
locker as a crime scene, testing the paper and inside door for
fingerprints. Schweizer told investigators that he had been framed and
that someone must have planted the derogatory cartoon in his locker,
according to police sources familiar with the investigation.

But only his fingerprints showed up on the paper, and other tests
showed that the material had been in his locker for some time, the
police sources said.

Since early January, Schweizer has been reassigned to desk duty at
Police Headquarters, 8th and Race streets. In his new assignment, he
takes accident reports over the phone.

Initially, the investigation was supervised by Chief Inspector William
Blackburn of the Narcotics Bureau. Yesterday, however, the case
intensified and was handed over to Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross,
who oversees the Internal Affairs Bureau, authorities said.

"Basically we discovered additional information that has to be
investigated before we can come up with a conclusion to our findings,"
said Chief Inspector William Colarulo, of Internal Affairs. "We have
more interviews to do based on the information that was disclosed to
us."

Colarulo said there is no time frame for completing the investigation,
which he declined to discuss further.

Rochelle Bilal, president of the Guardian Civic League, which
represents 3,000 African-American officers in Philadelphia, said the
union has been monitoring the Schweizer case since the start. She
called upon Ramsey to "do the right thing."

"African-American officers know that we work in an institution that is
inherently racist and we also know that some of our colleagues tend to
get comfortable with bigot behavior," Bilal said. "We are hoping that
the new police commissioner, like the old police commissioner, takes a
stand when it comes to racism in this department, and we will closely
monitor the situation as it pertains to African-Americans in the city."

Reached last night, Ramsey said the investigation is exploring whether
other officers knew about the alleged material in Schweizer's locker
and if so, whether they condoned it. But so far, Ramsey said that the
case "looks like an isolated incident" and that there is "no
indication" of others being involved.

"We'll see what the investigation uncovers and let the cards fall
where they may," Ramsey said.

He also said that Internal Affairs is looking over arrests made by
Schweizer.

"Just because he made the arrests, that doesn't necessarily mean that
those cases are bad," Ramsey said. "You can't jump to that
conclusion."

Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne Abraham,
declined comment yesterday.

JoAnne A. Epps, a professor at Temple University's Beasley School of
Law, who specializes in evidence and criminal procedure, said defense
attorneys will likely salivate over the allegations against Schweizer,
though getting a drug conviction overturned would require proof that
the officer engaged in illegal activity.

"Treating black people badly is one thing; planting evidence on them
is another thing," said Epps, who serves on the board of the Defender
Association of Philadelphia and headed former Mayor John Street's Task
Force on Police Discipline.

She added, "You don't win just because you were arrested by a racist,
even if you would be able to prove it . . . But I think most defense
attorneys would aggressively pursue this information. It's enormously
troubling and enormously tantalizing, and it would be a mistake for
any defense attorney to conclude that it's not going to go anywhere,
even though it's a difficult burden."