"One of the things that [the new directive] does is eliminate the idea of an officer using poor discretion," said William M. Johnson, executive director of the Police Advisory Commission, a city-funded watchdog agency. "It's telling officers, 'Don't do this. Don't do that.' That comes across very clearly."
He added, "It's designed to act as a safeguard against the conduct we've been reading about in the newspaper."
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey was unavailable for comment yesterday.
The 22-page directive replaces a shorter, vaguely worded and less-stringent policy implemented in October 1986.
The stricter rules for officers and informants is the latest step in an ongoing effort to prevent police misconduct and root out corruption within the Police Department's narcotics units.
Earlier this year, Ramsey split up the officers in Cujdik's squad and appointed a chief integrity officer to scrutinize drug investigations that use informants.
Cujdik is at the center of an FBI-led probe into allegations that he became too close to his informants and lied on search-warrant applications to gain access to suspected drug homes. Cujdik allegedly told informants to make drug buys elsewhere if they couldn't make a buy from the targeted house.
A Daily News review of search warrants revealed that many read like form letters and, in some cases, confidential informants made drug buys across the city, just minutes apart, defying the laws of physics.
Four officers - Cujdik, his brother Richard Cujdik, Robert McDonnell and Thomas Tolstoy - remain on desk duty pending outcome of the investigation. Dozens of criminal cases are in legal limbo as a result. No officer has been charged criminally.
Under the new police directive, Chief Integrity Officer Alice Mulvey will review all search warrants and all interactions between officers and informants to look for any red flags.
