DRUG UNIT CALLS PROBE A 'WITCH HUNT'

DURHAM -- Durham Regional Police brass are engaged in a "witch hunt"
in the wake of allegations of misconduct by members of the
drug-enforcement unit (DEU), say cops targeted by the probe.

Some sources say an investigation begun by the Ontario Provincial
Police in February of 2003 is unlikely to produce evidence of criminal
actions among the 11 former DEU cops who are the subject of the probe.
They say that laying Police Services Act charges against as many as 30
officers - many of whom were only peripherally connected to DEU
activities - is a face-saving effort by a police administration that
launched an extensive and costly investigation based on allegations
made by one former member of the unit.

"They've got nothing," said one former DEU officer, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.

"It's a f---ing witch hunt."

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing one of the officers caught up in the
probe has questioned the investigative methods undertaken by the OPP,
including contacting convicted or accused drug dealers and their
lawyers to ask if they have any complaints about DEU officers.
Numerous sources, including lawyers and Durham police brass, have
confirmed that investigative tactic.

"I have serious reservations about how the OPP has conducted this
so-called independent inquiry," said Bernie O'Brien, who is
representing former DEU Detective Tom Andrews.

"To go out and solicit complaints from people who have been charged is
a very dangerous course of action."

Durham Regional Police Chief Kevin McAlpine flatly rejected assertions
that police brass are taking pre-emptive measures to avoid
embarrassment over the OPP probe.

"The original complaint alleged many things, some of which are
criminal," the chief said during an interview.

The chief said he made the decision to call in an outside force to
investigate the complaint. Durham police followed up on allegations of
possible misconduct uncovered during the OPP probe, he said. While the
allegations being probed by the Durham Regional Police task force are
not criminal in nature, they speak to the professional conduct of
officers, the chief said.

"We take every complaint seriously," Chief McAlpine said.

"And we certainly want to make sure our people do their jobs
properly."

He said as many as 30 officers have been targeted for Police Services
Act charges so far.

The OPP investigation has involved a review of more than 250 DEU case
files, according to numerous sources. Of those, 27 files have been
forwarded for review to the provincial Attorney General, sources said.

The fall-out of the lengthy investigation has been low morale among
the rank and file, and the destruction of the careers of DEU officers,
all of whom have left the unit since the probe began, say sources,
including union brass and former DEU officers.

While the cops have been told they are under investigation for
possible criminal activity, none of them have been informed of the
nature of the alleged offences. It is not known if the allegations
centre around the conduct of one, a few, or all of the former DEU
officers, sources say.

Some of the cops who've been told they're under investigation haven't
even been interviewed by the OPP.

"Eighteen months ago we were advised there was an investigation into
the conduct of the DEU," said a former member of the unit.

"To date, we've never actually been officially told who the
complainant is, or the nature of the allegations involved."

The officer, a veteran with more than 10 years of service under his
belt who claims to have had an unblemished record prior to the current
investigation, said the careers and lives of dedicated cops have been
irreparably damaged by the probe.

"It's been devastating," he said. "There's marriages that have been
destroyed."

In addition, the men who decided to leave the DEU have found their
careers stalled, the cop said.

"We were told at the outset (of the investigation) that if the stress
was too great, we could transfer out," he said. "In August of 2003, we
elected to transfer out en masse. Guys had been throwing the idea
around for months."

The action brought a swift response from police brass, which had a
superintendent address the drug officers, he said.

"We were gathered together and were told by senior elements that what
we were doing was an embarrassment to the service," the officer said.

"We were told we'd be doing nothing but pushing a cruiser around for
the rest of our careers."

The cop said he's never been approached by the OPP investigators for
an interview.

Likewise, Det. Andrews, the decorated head of the unit, has not spoken
to investigators, despite his repeated offers to make a statement, Mr.
O'Brien said.

Det. Andrews was removed from the DEU and reassigned when the probe
was announced in February of 2003, Mr. O'Brien said.

"He ran this unit and he ran it very effectively," Mr. O'Brien said,
noting the high number of busts, including disruption of marijuana
grow operations and cocaine distribution networks, by the unit during
Det. Andrews' tenure.

"But he was taken from the DEU immediately and assigned a
non-supervisory role and ordered to remain away from all DEU
officers," Mr. O'Brien said.

Det. Andrews currently faces Police Services Act charges for allegedly
disobeying that order.

He made a brief appearance before a police tribunal in Whitby
Wednesday.

One former DEU officer who spoke to this paper said actions by police
brass have resulted in the dismantling of a unit that was putting up
stellar numbers and advancing the fight against drugs in Durham Region.

"We arrested a little over 300 people," he said. "Guys worked their
guts out in this unit. We worked very well together.

"There's no doubt in my mind this has destroyed our policing careers,"
he said. "It just amazes me this kind of thing could snowball out of
control the way it has."

Tom Bell, vice-president of the Durham Regional Police Association,
agreed that officers implicated in the DEU investigation have seen
their careers stall.

"Careers have been destroyed. There's no question about it," Mr. Bell
said.

"Careers haven't progressed as you would expect if this had not
happened."

The dismantling of the unit has also raised concerns about the
effectiveness of the police service's response to Durham's drug problem.

During the period between November of 2001 and September 2002, the DEU
busted 106 marijuana grow house operations, seizing more than 43,000
marijuana plants and more than $3.5 million worth of illegal drugs.

They laid hundreds of charges and were cited with a commendation by
Chief McAlpine in an internal memo in late January of 2002.

Between Jan. 1, 2002, and Jan. 9, 2003, the unit racked up more than
350 arrests and laid 1,250 charges.

The chief readily acknowledges the successes of the unit prior to its
break-up last year.

"There's never been any question about that. It was a very busy time,"
he said. "These people were doing a lot of work."

Chief McAlpine said he's not troubled by the fact so few marijuana
grow houses have been shut down in recent months. In the first half of
2004, just a few of the operations have been detected - one of them by
firefighters responding to a blaze in Whitby last month.

"We think, in fact, because of the work we've done ... many of these
people have moved on to other places," the chief said.

"In the early days of the marijuana grow wave we were getting all
kinds of Crime Stoppers (tips) and other information, and to a large
extent, that's tapered off quite a bit."

Mr. O'Brien, a criminal lawyer with extensive experience in the
region, said drug charges relating to large-scale operations have
dropped off noticeably.

"I'm in a courtroom every day and I do not see coming across the
courts anywhere near the same numbers of drug offences, certainly, in
terms of significance and importance and volume," he said.

"How do you redeploy a very effective, cohesive drug unit without the
continuity of bringing in new officers and training them to the same
level of expertise?"

Chief McAlpine also acknowledged that while the DEU under Det. Andrews
lodged a large number of arrests, the drug unit was not the source of
an inordinate number of complaints.

Nor was the Special Investigations Unit ever called in to probe
reports of injury or mistreatment among civilians dealt with by the
unit, he said.

But the chief steadfastly defended the decision to call in the OPP.
And he rejects speculation among police and others that the probe has
failed to find evidence of misconduct.

"Your premise is inaccurate - the premise that, if there is
criminality, it would have been dealt with before now," he said.

The chief said that the OPP has, in fact, completed its investigation
and that information has been handed over to the provincial Attorney
General for assessment. It will be the decision of the Crown attorney
as to whether or not criminal charges will be laid.

Some observers, however, think the lack of charges in the year and a
half the OPP have been on the case is indicative of a lack of strong
evidence against the cops they're investigating.

"As a cop, my instincts tell me they haven't found a whole heck of a
lot," said Mr. Bell of the police union.

"It's been an exhaustive investigation.

"If these officers are innocent, the longer this goes, the more
frustrating it is and the more damaging it is for everyone," he said.

Mr. O'Brien said the DEU officers have been denied the same basic
rights any citizen being investigated for criminality would be
afforded - namely, being informed of the nature of the allegations and
the evidence against them.

"It's denying them a basic right that all of us take for granted," he
said.

One former member of the unit fumed over what he sees as a lack of due
process that has left him and his colleagues uninformed about the
investigation and the effect it may have on their lies and careers.

"I am at the centre of a storm," he said.

"It is now vindictive and personal and about saving face at the
expense of good people doing a tough job."

Another former DEU cop said that, while an investigation into the
allegations was warranted, the length of time it has taken and the
lack of disclosure to the officers involved has been unfair.

"If the allegations are strong enough to warrant charges, why would
you not proceed with them?" he said, noting an RCMP investigation into
Toronto police resulted in criminal charges just weeks after the probe
began in April.

"There has to be police discipline," he said. "But at the same time,
you have to be fair in how things are conducted. There's no way you
could get away with this if it were any average citizen....

"It's destroyed good officers."

For his part, Chief McAlpine said the Durham Regional Police Service
is adhering to a standard expected of it by the citizens it serves. To
that end, the investigative techniques employed by the OPP and Durham
police, the length of time the probe has taken and the way in which
individual officers have been dealt with is justified, he said.
"Certainly, when you're conducting an investigation you don't leave
any stones unturned," he said.

The OPP has refused comment, other than to say the investigation is
ongoing.