The FBI launched an investigation that began last February with allegations that Officer Jeffrey Cujdik sometimes lied on search-warrant applications to gain access to suspected drug homes. The Police Department has taken five officers off the street. No officer has been charged with a crime.
Williams said that any concerns he had about Werner's supervision of the Narcotics Field Unit, which he headed from 2002 until May 2008, were laid to rest after he reviewed Werner's personnel file and consulted with Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and former commissioners Sylvester Johnson and John Timoney.
"He came highly recommended," Williams said in a telephone interview yesterday. "There was nothing . . . that would prohibit him from being the best person for the job."
As chief of detectives, Werner will help drive a wide range of investigations, including sex crimes, gun offenses and municipal corruption.
Williams said that Werner, who will earn about $104,000 a year, will oversee about 70 detectives and officers. City records show that Werner, who has served as captain of the 25th Police District, with headquarters on Whitaker Avenue near Erie, in North Philadelphia, since May 2008, earned a base salary of $88,356 last year.
Werner yesterday defended his tenure as supervisor of the Narcotics Field Unit.
"The investigation will demonstrate there was supervision there and the supervision was appropriate," he said.
While Werner was at the helm, a narcotics squad that included Cujdik routinely raided corner grocery stores for little zip-lock bags, which police consider drug paraphernalia. After the officers smashed surveillance cameras or sliced the wires, thousands of dollars in cash and merchandise were missing, merchants alleged.
One merchant expressed outrage yesterday about Werner's appointment.
