JONES ABUSED POWER, SUIT ALLEGES

Officers Say He Ordered Drugs Planted In Retaliation

Milwaukee Police Chief Arthur Jones was accused in a $20 million lawsuit
Wednesday of ordering officers on six separate occasions to plant drugs or
drug paraphernalia inside the squad car of an officer who had successfully
sued him over a job transfer.

But the suit was quickly criticized by City Attorney Grant Langley as merely
being part of a campaign aimed at bringing down the chief, who has been
buffeted by lawsuits, police union criticism and calls for his ouster.

Langley said he spoke to Jones late Wednesday and the chief "categorically
denied authorizing or having any knowledge of" the planting of any
contraband in any squad car. Many of the allegations may already have been
heard in court and therefore could not be heard again, which raises
questions about the intent of the suit, Langley said.

"I can't think it's anything else. It's a vindictive effort to get at the
chief," Langley said.

Jones himself did not return calls seeking comment.

Several Milwaukee police officers, who asked not to be identified, this week
said they believe that planting drugs is a tactic used by internal affairs
investigators against officers who are under suspicion of wrongdoing. And
internal investigations of various types have increased dramatically during
Jones' four-year tenure, records show.

But in the suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, officers Rod
Gustafson and Javier Cornejo allege that drug plantings and other actions
taken against them were done in retaliation for a suit they filed against
Jones in 1994 and won this year.

In that case, a federal court jury decided in January that Jones violated
the officers' free speech rights by giving them undesirable transfers in
retaliation for statements they had made. Each officer was awarded $190,000.

Jones "felt that he had to impugn the integrity of these fine officers
through these acts of retaliation," Bradley DeBraska, president of the
Milwaukee Police Association union, said about the acts alleged in the new
lawsuit.

Langley said that the city is continuing to fight the first suit and that an
appeal is pending.

Heart of Suit

In the latest suit, Gustafson and Cornejo again allege violation of their
free speech rights, contending that they have repeatedly been denied
desirable transfers since filing their first suit.

In the case of Gustafson, the suit alleges that Jones directed officers on
six separate occasions to plant drugs or drug paraphernalia in his squad
car, and on another occasion ordered them to plant a pistol there. The
alleged plantings were done between May 1997 and February 2000, the suit
says.

"The retaliation is continuing as we speak," said William Rettko, the
Milwaukee lawyer who filed both suits. "There have been no efforts by anyone
to stop the retaliation efforts from continuing."

Langley said that according to the Police Department, there have been about
400 cases of contraband such as guns and drugs being found in squad cars
since 1997. He said he understood that in most of those cases, officers had
simply overlooked evidence seized in an arrest.

Also named in the new suit are Deputy Police Chief Monica Ray; former Police
Chief Philip Arreola, who was Jones' predecessor; the city Fire and Police
Commission and its chairman, Robert Welch; and Mayor John O. Norquist, who
has been pressured to fire Jones.

Steve Filmanowicz, Norquist's spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit
and said the suit prevented him from commenting generally on Jones' status.

The filing of the suit comes just weeks after release of two police union
surveys of members that were highly critical of Jones. One of the surveys,
done by the Milwaukee Police Association, got responses from about 60% of
rank-and-file officers and, of those, 97% said Jones should be replaced.

Questions in both surveys seemed designed to elicit negative responses about
Jones, and the Milwaukee Police Association has called for him to be
replaced. But DeBraska denied that the suit is merely part of a campaign to
get rid of Jones.

DeBraska said the Fire and Police Commission has repeatedly denied his
requests to discuss allegations of retaliation by Jones against officers.

Gustafson, a 20-year veteran of the force, has earned awards for heroism and
"superior achievement," police records show. Cornejo, a 14-year veteran,
also has several "meritorious mentions," the records show.

The officers are seeking $300,000 in compensatory damages and $20 million in
punitive damages in the suit.

Their first suit stemmed from an investigation Gustafson and Cornejo
conducted July 13, 1993, when they followed up on a gun offense that
occurred about a week earlier.

The officers went to several homes in search of a 12-year-old gang member
who had pointed a gun at a woman and her family and threatened to kill them.
The officers contended they had appropriate authorization to conduct the
follow-up investigation.

The city contended that they did not have authorization, and ignored a
directive that tactical units accept routine police calls in order to beef
up patrol staffing in key summer months.

When Jones - who was deputy inspector at the time - learned of the
investigation that night, he ordered Gustafson and Cornejo back on patrol.
Later that evening, Jones issued an order prohibiting tactical squad
officers from conducting any follow-up or helping the detective bureau
without his direct authorization.

Eventually, copies of the order and police reports about the officers'
investigation were leaked to the press and to several aldermen. Langley said
he believes that many of the allegations made in the latest lawsuit may have
been heard during the first trial. If that is true, he said, the allegations
cannot be raised in another lawsuit.

Sidebar: Lawsuit History

Police officers Rod Gustafson and Javier Cornejo were upset over a transfer
by Arthur Jones, who is now police chief.

December 1994: They sued Jones.

January 2000: They were each awarded $190,000 by a jury that said the
demotions were done in retaliation for comments the officers had made.

On Wednesday, the officers sued Jones again, alleging he has continued to
retaliate against them for filing the first suit by denying them job
transfers. They also allege the following actions taken against Gustafson:

May 13, 1997: Semiautomatic pistol found in Gustafson's squad car.

May 15, 1997: Marijuana found in Gustafson's squad car.

July 31, 1997: Marijuana found in Gustafson's squad car.

Aug. 8, 1997: Gustafson's police station locker broken into and searched.

Oct. 2, 1998: Marijuana found in Gustafson's squad car.

Feb. 11, 1999: Cocaine pipe found in Gustafson's squad car.

July 10, 1999: Crack pipe found in Gustafson's squad car.

Feb. 24, 2000: Crack cocaine found in Gustafson's squad car.