LOUISVILLE DRUG UNIT REPORT CITES SUPERVISORS

Signs Of Detectives' Alleged Fraud Missed

LOUISVILLE (AP) -- Metro Narcotics supervisors missed or ignored signs that
might have revealed allegations that two detectives were fabricating
informants and search warrants, according to an outside review of the drug
unit.

In its draft report, the Police Executive Research Forum said detectives
Mark Watson and Christie Richardson recorded so many cases that there might
not have been "enough hours in the day" to do what they claimed to have
accomplished.

The two county detectives, who were partners in Metro Narcotics, were
indicted in March on more than 450 counts of theft, burglary and perjury.
They resigned from the department, have pleaded not guilty and are to be
tried on Jan. 14 in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

Jefferson County Police Chief William Carcara ordered the $60,000 review
after Watson and Richardson were indicted.

The indictments destroyed dozens of cases that the detectives had
investigated -- convictions of eight defendants have since been set aside,
and charges against 49 more people have been dismissed.

Officer Dwight Mitchell, a Jefferson County police spokes-man, said Carcara
would not comment on the report because it is a draft and contains errors
that will be corrected in the final report.

Metro Narcotics is staffed by both Jefferson County and Louis-ville police
officers. Louis-ville Police Chief Greg Smith declined through a
spokeswoman to be interviewed about the review.

The review team's report said Metro Narcotics officers and supervisors
acknowledged that they had missed potential signs of unprofessional conduct
by Watson and Richardson. For example, according to the report:

. Watson was "infamous" for going into locations already searched by
experienced officers and quickly finding drugs they supposedly had
overlooked. "While this was thought to be suspicious, it was not openly
questioned by platoon members," the review team said.

. Watson and Richardson would alert supervisors that a controlled buy would
occur at a certain time and place, but when the supervisors arrived, they
were told that the buy had been completed early and that the informant and
accused had already been released.

. The pair never executed a "dry" search warrant -- one in which they
failed to find drugs -- and they often acted as "lone rangers," conducting
searches without help from other officers, despite the safety risk.