QUESTIONS RAISED OVER FEDERAL FUNDS SPENT ON LUXURY CARS FOR POLICE BRASS

PHILADELPHIA -- Luxury sedans for the top brass are not typically viewed as
essential weapons in a police department's war on illegal drugs.

Except, apparently, in Philadelphia.

Police Commissioner John Timoney, Deputy Commissioner for Operations
Sylvester Johnson and Inspector Jeremiah Daley each is cruising the city in
a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis -- rather than the seasoned, city-issue Ford
Crown Victorias used by Mayor Ed Rendell, among others.

The vehicles are being leased to the Police Department through the federal
High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, known as HIDTA, which is
footing the $450-a-month leasing fee for each car.

Part of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the program
aids designated law enforcement authorities in the war on drugs. Its funds
often pay police overtime on drug busts and buy equipment such as cameras
for undercover investigations.

Philadelphia and Camden became part of the program in 1995. Local HIDTA
officials are tight-lipped on how money is spent, but they did say it helps
to underwrite Operation Sunrise, the highly publicized, long-term
initiative Timoney started last summer to crack down on drugs and violent
crime in the city's most downtrodden neighborhoods.

In some cases, HIDTA money is used to lease vehicles for local police
departments, although Kurt Schmid, acting HIDTA director, said a Mercury
Grand Marquis "is probably going to be somewhat atypical" of those vehicles.

"I'm used to seeing, from my perspective, something more commonplace, like
a Crown Victoria," Schmid said.

But he added that as long as the luxury sedans were supporting the HIDTA
mission, there was nothing improper.

Timoney declined to be interviewed for this story.

Confronted by a Daily News reporter after a public event Friday, the police
commissioner said: "I'm fed up talking about that nonsense. I've got no
further comment."

John Gallagher, a special adviser to Timoney, said the request for
HIDTA-leased sedans had been made by Ray Rooney, head of the Police
Department's narcotics division. Gallagher said the sedans had been "used
for a number of police-related purposes, primarily related to narcotics
operations."

Gallagher said Timoney also used the luxury sedan to commute and for
transportation to evening community meetings.

Gallagher said Timoney often puts in 70- to 80-hour work weeks, "and
there's no doubt in my mind he spends at least 40 hours a week on HIDTA stuff."

HIDTA officials said both Johnson and Daley devote most of their working
hours to drug-related investigations. Daley oversees Operation Sunrise.

But there are a few strings attached to the use of HIDTA money. It's
supposed to only "supplement" local police budgets for anti-drug activities
that cannot otherwise be paid for out of the city's general fund, said
Schmid. HIDTA money is not intended to "supplant" resources provided by the
city.

Timoney, Johnson -- the architect of Operation Sunrise -- and Daley already
get city vehicles as part of their jobs, according to the city's Office of
Fleet Management.

Local officials said they saw nothing wrong with giving Timoney a car.
Wayne Comer, the director of Philadelphia- Camden HIDTA, said Timoney was
"using a HIDTA vehicle for HIDTA activities."

"If the cars were being used to go to the Roundhouse from their residences
- -- commuter cars -- then the city should pay for it. But I know Timoney's
been on drug busts at 2 a.m., and I don't have a problem with it," Comer added.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham, a member of the Philadelphia-Camden HIDTA
executive committee, concurred. "The commissioner of police is, in my
opinion, in full compliance with the HIDTA policy," she said.

"If HIDTA's comfortable with the use of the car for that program, that is
something we will support -- admittedly, only on a temporary basis," said
mayoral spokesman Kevin Feeley.

Meanwhile, Fleet Manager Riley Harrison said he ordered a brand-new 1999
Ford Crown Victoria for Timoney in the spring that "should be on the ground
in a couple of weeks."

Gallagher said Timoney viewed the Grand Marquis as a "loaned" vehicle
"until the commissioner gets a city car."