20 L.A. CELL CALLS MADE ON OCU TRIP TO VEGAS

Police Department records indicate that 20 calls were made on Deputy
Chief Brenda Jones's cell phone in Los Angeles in 1997 while she was
scheduled to be at a conference in Las Vegas.

Jones declined comment on the calls this week, stating through a
department spokesman that it would be inappropriate to comment while
the FBI, TBI and state auditors are investigating the use of funds
under the control of the Organized Crime Unit.

On Dec. 3, 1997, Jones - then a major over the department's elite unit
- - was scheduled to be at the National Gang Conference in Las Vegas,
275 miles from Los Angeles.

Jones initially denied that any of the half-dozen officers at the gang
conference left Las Vegas. However, receipts of gas purchases on an
OCU credit card indicated that one of them, Lt. Charles Newell, was in
Los Angeles during the conference.

Newell said last month he left the conference to visit a famous
acquaintance, lawyer Johnnie Cochran. Newell said he made the
four-hour drive to Los Angeles, met with Cochran for 30 minutes, then
returned to the conference. He would not say who went with him to Los
Angeles.

Cell phone records indicate that on Dec. 3 Jones's phone was used to
make calls to Inglewood, Calif., Los Angeles and Memphis.

Mobile phone records, including roamer charges that indicate the
origin point of any call, were released to The Commercial Appeal this
week following a request under Tennessee's Open Records law.

However, before turning over the phone records, the City Attorney's
Office deleted the specific phone numbers called, citing security reasons.

Records obtained earlier of expenditures on an OCU credit card show
that Jones purchased gas near New York City in late 1997 while she was
attending a conference 70 miles away in Philadelphia.

She also put 600 miles on her rental car in four days at a Washington
conference in October 1997. The newspaper is seeking further cell
phone records to determine whether Jones's mobile phone was used
during those periods.

Police Director Bill Oldham was on vacation Wednesday and could not be
reached. After a previous story documenting Newell's side trip to Los
Angeles, Oldham said that any information indicating officers were not
at a conference they were being paid to attend would be
investigated.

Jones directed operations at OCU, the unit that handles narcotics and
gang investigations. Oldham recently took control of the unit away
from her and assigned Insp. Mary Wright as its head. He also
transferred Newell out of the unit.

The newspaper has obtained numerous records from the city detailing
spending of OCU funds, particularly drug forfeiture money seized from
suspected drug dealers. Until recent weeks, there was more than $6
million in funds available to OCU. Most of that money was used in
expected ways, for drug buys, confidential informant fees,
surveillance equipment and other operational expenses.

However, the newspaper documented spending for a wide array of
expenses not related to investigations, including travel, food and
clothing.

Top city officials acknowledged that they were unaware that OCU credit
cards, issued to aid undercover drug operations, were being used for
out-of-town travel and to buy everyday goods and services around town.

Oldham retrieved the 15 credit cards used by OCU officers. A new
policy requires that all expenses be related to investigations. All
travel must be approved by City Hall.