A FORMER police captain who supervised narcotics officers now at the center of an FBI-led corruption investigation has landed a top job at the District Attorney's Office.
IT STARTED simple: A longtime drug informant accused a narcotics officer of fabricating evidence to frame suspected drug dealers.
But in the 11 months since the Daily News first detailed the allegations lodged by informant Ventura Martinez against Officer Jeffrey Cujdik, the fallout is far from simple, with no conclusion in sight.
The Internal Affairs Bureau has stripped two more narcotics officers of their police powers and service weapons in connection with an expanding federal-local investigation into allegations of perjury and misconduct, including fabrication of evidence.
No sexual relationships. No gifts. No "social, financial or business" dealings. No undocumented meetings or telephone conversations.
Those are just a few of the rules spelled out in a new police directive that places tighter controls on officers and their confidential informants.
Narcotics Officer Jeffrey Cujdik and fellow squad members routinely conducted "illegal searches" of corner stores, then disabled surveillance cameras to "cover up" their actions and the theft of money and merchandise, according to allegations in two civil lawsuits filed yesterday.
THE CITY IS still paying thousands of dollars in court-related overtime to four narcotics officers taken off the street after being accused of fabricating evidence and other crimes.
Narcotics Officer Thomas Tolstoy is on desk duty and is a focus of a growing probe into allegations of police misconduct. The complaints filed and police administrative action against Tolstoy include:
Prompted by reports that a group of narcotics officers took thousands in cash and merchandise from mom-and-pop stores during raids, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey last night assured Dominican community leaders and merchants that he will stand tough against misconduct.
A fourth Philadelphia police officer has been taken off the street in connection with an expanding investigation into allegations of police misconduct. This time,
three women say they were fondled and groped.
City prosecutors yesterday dropped charges against a suspected drug dealer after a judge denied their request to continue the case pending the outcome of an investigation into the arresting officer, Jeffrey Cujdik.
RED FLAGS were everywhere. Something wasn't right.
Search-warrant applications read like form letters. A confidential informant made drug buys across the city, sometimes just minutes apart, defying the laws of physics. And narcotics officers worked alone with their informants, violating a Police Department rule.
Investigators from the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau are investigating whether search warrants were properly obtained and executed by some officers in the Narcotics Field Unit.
The Daily News' "Tainted Justice" series has prompted community leaders to question the wisdom of using an elite drug-enforcement unit to bust small stores for selling drug paraphernalia.
Dominican community leaders and merchants expressed outrage yesterday over what they characterized as a "criminal enterprise within the Police Department" and called on Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to assure them he'll root out corrupt officers.
Two Philadelphia police narcotics field unit squads - including one at the center of an ongoing federal and local probe - have been folded into other narcotics units.
THE NARCOTICS officers knew they were being watched on video surveillance moments after they entered the bodega.
Officer Jeffrey Cujdik told store owner Jose Duran that police were in search of tiny ziplock bags often used to package drugs. But, during the September 2007 raid, Cujdik and fellow squad members seemed much more interested in finding every video camera in the West Oak Lane store.
Store owners tell similar stories: Officer Jeffrey Cujdik and fellow officers destroyed or cut the wires to their surveillance cameras, confiscated cash, and even slurped energy drinks.
During a 2007 police raid at Lady Gonzalez's Kensington home, a male officer directed Gonzalez into a small back room, where he sexually assaulted her under the guise of searching her for drugs and weapons, according to a civil lawsuit filed yesterday.
WHEN Officer Jeffrey Cujdik learned that one of his informants, Tiffany Gorham, was arrested on robbery and aggravated-assault charges last year, he provided cash to bail her out of jail, Gorham's mother has told the Daily News.
The Fraternal Order of Police and Officer Jeffrey Cujdik's lawyer joined forces yesterday to attack Daily News stories that raised questions about Cujdik's relationship with a paid police informant.
OFFICER JEFFREY Cujdik was the first cop to burst through the front door, gun drawn.
Lady Gonzalez froze. Terror gripped her five young children as Cujdik and eight other narcotics cops stormed the Kensington home.
A North Philadelphia man who faced life in prison on drug charges was poised to walk free yesterday in the wake of a Daily News expose that raised questions about the cop and the informant linked to his arrest.
Philadelphia's public defenders yesterday began to scrutinize scores of drug cases in response to a Daily News investigation into allegations that a veteran narcotics cop and his informant fabricated evidence so that police could obtain warrants to enter homes and make arrests.
A police investigation into allegations that a narcotics cop and his informant lied about drug buys so the officer could get search warrants has expanded to other officers and informants, a high-ranking police official said yesterday.
Local and federal law enforcement have launched a task force to investigate allegations that a narcotics cop and his informant lied about drug buys so the cop could get search warrants and raid people's homes.
