TRIAL PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON POLICE POLICIES

When former Philadelphia Police Officers Marcellus Robinson and John
Thompson go on trial Wednesday, the testimony will focus on how they
allegedly framed one drug suspect.

The Police Department will also be under a spotlight, as evidence shows
that the two ex-officers and their supervisors repeatedly ignored key
anticorruption measures enacted after the city's last major police scandal.

Courts have dumped more than 60 drug arrests by Robinson and Thompson - the
largest dismissal of cases since the 39th District cops-as-robbers scandal
of the late 1990s.

And people arrested by Robinson and Thompson for alleged drug deals are now
suing the city in federal court, alleging their civil rights were violated.
The city recently paid out $100,000 to settle one of those suits. The 39th
District scandal cost the city $4 million.

"This is a part of the war on drugs that unfortunately is often not
recognized," said University of Pennsylvania law professor David Rudovsky.

"These officers were involved in so many cases in which they were violating
internal police regulation, and nobody... paid any attention," said
Rudovsky, who was the lead attorney in the 39th District suits against the
city.

Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson strongly backed the work of the
department's Internal Affairs investigators and their findings - that
Robinson and Thompson violated department regulations on drug cases, as
well as perjuring themselves.

"I stand by the charging of the District Attorney's Office," Johnson said.

The attorney representing the two former officers did not respond to
requests for comment.

The case against Robinson, 37, and Thompson, 41, centers on their January
2000 arrest of Angel Rodriguez, 29.

In that case, Robinson testified that he used binoculars to watch drug
transactions from a hiding place. He said three men approached Rodriguez on
a North Philadelphia street, gave him money, and Rodriguez gave each of
them a small bag apparently containing drugs.

Robinson then left his hiding place and, with Thompson, arrested Rodriguez
- - who had drugs on him, Robinson said.

Thompson also swore that Rodriguez had drugs on him - in the right sleeve
of his jacket.

It appeared to be a routine bust. The judge said there was enough evidence
to try Rodriguez on drug-dealing charges.

The tables turned when Rodriguez's public defender lawyer got a tape
recording of the police radio call from the arrest.

There was no mention of drug dealing or any surveillance. In fact, Robinson
was supposed to be pursuing a gunman at the time he arrested Rodriguez.

And Rodriguez had no drugs in his possession when police caught him. The
police radio tape showed that drugs were recovered in a nearby backyard.

Prosecutors dropped all charges against Rodriguez, who is scheduled to
testify at Robinson and Thompson's trial. Rodriguez's attorney said his
client would not comment for this article.

Prosecutors also gave police investigators a copy of the tape and asked for
an internal investigation.

Investigators saw a pattern.

Robinson and Thompson were making high numbers of narcotics arrests, though
they weren't in a drug unit and weren't supposed to be doing surveillance work.

"It is Robinson who initiates the majority of these sight arrests," an
investigator wrote, noting that Robinson typically claimed to have seen
drug sales from a "confidential location." Court records show more than two
dozen cases in which Robinson and Thompson claimed to have used binoculars
for drug surveillance.

Investigators also found that when Robinson and Thompson were making the
drug arrests, they usually were on routine patrol and in uniform.

Drug arrests weren't supposed to happen that way. After the 39th District
scandal, a police directive barred uniformed officers from conducting
narcotics stakeouts. A directive also stated that "under no circumstances"
were street officers allowed to conduct drug investigations in the absence
of a supervisor.

There was a clear reason for those requirements.

Steven Brown, a 39th District officer now serving a 10-year sentence in
federal prison, said in a recent interview that he and some other uniformed
39th District police systematically rounded up young black men and searched
them without legal justification.

Brown said that if police found drugs, officers arrested the men and
fabricated stories about seeing sales. In reality, he said, uniformed
patrolmen rarely saw sales because pushers had lookouts.

"That's what we did. You can't walk around in uniform. People will see
you," he said.

Some 39th District sergeants routinely gave the corrupt officers top
performance reviews.

That also happened with Robinson.

"Marcellus, you are a person who has been blessed... . You are respected
and admired among your peers," Sgt. Tara S. Holmes wrote in Robinson's 1999
review. "Think about pursuing a supervisory role in law enforcement because
you have what it takes."

About Thompson, Holmes wrote: "You are the 'man' on the streets. You
maintain law and order in the 25th District... . You are one of my best
fighters." Since then, Holmes has become a prosecution witness against
Robinson and Thompson.