POLICE INVESTIGATE OFFICERS WHO POSED AS CENSUS TAKERS

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Police will conduct an internal investigation into
the actions of two officers who posed as census takers during an
undercover drug operation, department spokesman Michael Jordan said
Friday.

The investigation comes after heavy criticism by U.S. Census Bureau
officials, who criticized the officers' actions, saying it jeopardized
the credibility of census takers.

Police Chief William Finney had ordered the investigation Friday. A
civilian review board will also look into the matter. The department
has refused to name the officers involved in the operation in June.

Undercover officers posing as someone other than an a police officer
is common practice, Jordan said.

"It is to protect their own safety, as well as to protect the
integrity of the investigation," he added. "If you' re a drug
dealer, and you know I am a police officer, would you sell me any?" he
asked.

The department wants to determine whether officers went too far by
identifying themselves as census workers. The local census office
notified Washington, D.C., headquarters of its concerns.

Census officials said Friday that they, too, are reviewing the
officers' actions as well as what laws are in place addressing the
deceptive portrayal of a census worker.

There are varying police accounts of the controversial drug
investigation on St. Paul's East Side. A police officer' s report
dated June 6 said "officers went to this house posing as census workers."

Jordan said the officers only introduced themselves as census workers
to a suspect to protect a complainant in an undercover
investigation.

The integrity of the census is protected by several laws. For example,
if a census taker comes across an illegal immigrant, they are not
allowed to give that information to the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service.