Police narcotics units 'reshuffled'

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.

Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn yesterday described the move as a "reshuffling of the deck" that will allow for better supervision of the officers.

The consolidation plan, approved by Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, came after a series of Daily News articles exposed numerous accusations of illegal behavior by Narcotics Officer Jeffrey Cujdik and other cops.

"Narcotics is one of those units that requires a small span of control because they deal with search-and-seizure warrants, confidential informants and other high-risk situations," Blackburn said. "In light of the articles and the scrutiny the Narcotics Bureau is under, we felt this was necessary."

Cujdik and nine other officers who worked in Squad 9, and five officers from a different team, are being dispersed among 10 remaining narcotics squads.

"It's not out of the norm for us to rotate people into different units," Blackburn said. "This is more about them having a higher level of supervision."

Each of the 10 squads will have a at least a sergeant supervising operations, he said.

In a 2002 report that examined police enforcement of drug laws and made recommendations for preventing systemic abuse, Ellen Green-Ceisler, then director of the Police Integrity and Accountability Office, concluded that narcotics officers and supervisors should be regularly rotated.

Green-Ceisler, now a judge, found that police departments across the country require rotations to keep officers honest.

Cujdik, a 12-year veteran, is at the center of an expanding federal and local probe into allegations that he lied on search-warrant applications to gain access to suspected drug homes and that he became too close with his informants. He rented a house to one and allegedly provided bail money to another.

After the Daily News series began detailing the allegations in February, authorities formed an investigative task force composed of FBI agents and police Internal Affairs officers.

Cujdik remains on desk duty and was forced to return his police-issued weapon.

The Daily News also has interviewed 14 store owners who said that Cujdik and fellow officers destroyed or cut the wires to surveillance cameras during raids.

The store owners said that after the wires were cut, cigarettes, batteries, cell phones, food and drinks were taken from the stores.