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D.A.'s pick for top detective oversaw 'Tainted' unit

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.

Among key staff appointments announced yesterday by D.A. Seth Williams is that of Christopher Werner (second from left) as chief of county detectives.
Among key staff appointments announced yesterday by D.A. Seth Williams is that of Christopher Werner (second from left) as chief of county detectives.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff photographer

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.

In his first news conference as D.A., Seth Williams yesterday named Christopher M. Werner as his chief of county detectives, a move widely viewed as a step up for the 21-year police veteran.

While many in law enforcement praise Werner for his dogged work ethic and aggressive policing, Werner's record suffered a blemish last year, when the Daily News series "Tainted Justice" detailed allegations that a group of narcotics officers under his command engaged in criminal misconduct.

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.

"He was the boss of the group," said Jose Duran, whose West Oak Lane grocery store was raided in September 2007. "He shouldn't be moving up. He should be moving down because what his people did to me and other store owners wasn't right."

Duran alleges that officers took nearly $10,000 in cash and cartons of cigarettes. The officers also helped themselves to chips, sodas, cakes and deli sandwiches, Duran said.

Duran had a hidden backup hard-drive that captured part of the raid on video. The footage, with audio, shows a sergeant directing officers to disconnect camera wires. The officers did so with pliers and a bread knife. The Daily News obtained the video and posted it on its Web site, philly.com.

When a reporter asked Werner if he had directed the officers to focus on store raids, he replied, "Those investigations occurred because complaints were generated from those locations, paraphernalia sales from those locations."

Commissioner Ramsey has said that he can't think of any official reason for police officers to cut camera wires in store raids.

In addition to the merchants' allegations, the FBI, along with Police Internal Affairs, is scrutinizing hundreds of search warrants obtained by Cujdik and other officers during Werner's tenure.

Many of those search warrants aroused suspicion because they read alike, often using what defense attorneys have coined "cookie-cutter" phrases. A copy of every search warrant went to Werner for review.

So far, 15 civil-rights lawsuits have been filed in federal court alleging police misconduct. Those lawsuits fault the supervision of the Narcotics Field Unit.

One of the lawsuits was brought by Lady Gonzalez, who alleges that Officer Thomas Tolstoy, who worked with Cujdik, fondled her breasts during a December 2007 drug raid at her Kensington home. Two other women have lodged similar allegations against Tolstoy.

Gonzalez's attorney, Jeremy Ibrahim, yesterday said that Werner's appointment was "clearly problematic."

"Now their chief of detectives may be called to testify in federal civil-right lawsuits," he said.

If officers are convicted of criminal conduct and Werner's supervision is partly to blame, that would undermine his credibility as the D.A.'s chief of detectives, Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim pointed out that Ramsey felt the need to put in place a new directive to tighten supervision over narcotics officers as a result of the probe.

Narcotics expert Jeremiah Daley, director of Philadelphia/Camden High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, said that he's known Werner for about 20 years and called him an "excellent selection" by Williams.

"He's a consummate professional, very astute and he's very driven to get things done," Daley said.

"I think it's unfair to question [Werner's] leadership based on an investigation that is still in progress. I think Chris' career record as a whole speaks for itself, and he will be a very effective leader in the D.A.'s office."