Tuesday, March 21, 2000
N.Ky. drug unit faces new questions
Possible sexual harassment probed
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Turmoil again plagues Northern Kentucky's regional drug unit, this time with the board reviewing concerns about sexual harassment.
Board Chairman Howard McMillan said Monday that some documents exist about a review of “possible sexual harassment and/or hostile work environment concerns” involving the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force though there have been no written complaints.
Mr. McMillan's explanation came in response to an open-records request filed last week by The Kentucky Enquirer. He cited state law in writing that the documents or paperwork cannot be released because they are law-enforcement records that were compiled in the process of investigating “possible statutory or regulatory violations.”
The law also allows documents to be kept private when their release could harm an in
vestigation. The documents or paperwork, Mr. McMillan wrote, also contain preliminary information, memoranda, opinions expressed and/or policies recommended “relative to possible sexual harassment and/or hostile work environment concerns at the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force.”
Mr. McMillan, whose job as Campbell County deputy judge-executive puts him on the board, said he could not comment about what took place in a closed-door board meeting Friday but that he would explain it when he could.
“Whatever I'm able to tell you, I will,” he said.
Controversy has plagued the drug unit off and on for years. Chiefs complained in the past about a lack of communication and cooperation between the strike force and their departments. The strike force also has been perceived as wanting only to go after the big dealers rather than the street-level activity that plagues many cities.
Participation in the unit has decreased to officers from only the three county police departments, the same three counties that fund the strike force. In the past, officers from Erlanger, Covington, Newport and Florence also were members. Execu tive Director Dan Steers has tried to woo some of the departments back, but many say they can't justify paying an officer while he's assigned to another force under somebody else's control.
“We're not that big of a department,” said Florence Chief Tom Kathman. “I can't justify it.”
His department is now part of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force based in Cincinnati. That participation allows Florence to get some of the forfeitures and seizures the unit turns up. The Northern Kentucky unit did not share its forfeitures, Chief Kathman said.
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