Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cape May County News: The Press of Atlantic City

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2002 03:35:41 -0500

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cape/102902TAYLOROCT29_3RD_4TH.html
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October 29, 2002

Detective admits misusing informants

By W.F. KEOUGH Staff Writer, (609) 463-6710, E-Mail

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE -
A local woman claims she eavesdropped on drug dealers and staked out drug houses for suspended Middle Township police Detective Gregg J. Taylor, who has agreed to retire after admitting he misused confidential informants in investigations.

Taylor, 47, has admitted using "civilians in law enforcement investigative activities beyond those authorized by law," acting Cape May County Prosecutor J. David Meyer said Monday.

Taylor will not face criminal charges as part of a deal he reached with the township that also imposes a 60-day suspension without pay.

On Monday, Meyer announced the terms of the deal, which concludes a seven-month investigation of Taylor's conduct.

Defense attorneys already have begun seeking the records of that investigation, believing that Taylor's conduct could have violated the rights of several of their clients.

Meyer said the civilians - private citizens and Police Department employees - were improperly used "in a variety of surveillance activities," but he declined to elaborate, or to reveal the name of any witnesses interviewed by prosecutors.

But one witness interviewed by The Press of Atlantic City said she told prosecutors that Taylor showed her how to electronically spy on her neighbors to help him make drug arrests.

The Press also obtained a copy of the witness's March 25 statement to investigators.

"Detective Taylor came over and he gave me a scanner and next, a little police scanner and next to that scanner was a little black box and next to that it went into a tape recorder," Tamala Marks said in her statement.

Such surveillance is illegal wiretapping, but the woman said Taylor told her it was OK.

"I specifically asked him if it was illegal, and he said it is absolutely not illegal," Marks, 41, said in her statement. "And I believed it even till today."

In her interview with The Press, Marks said that she began helping police because drugs were ruining her neighborhood. She knew Taylor, she said, and trusted him.

Taylor gave her a 20-channel Realistic scanner and the frequencies of cell phones in late 1994 or early 1995, Marks said.

Marks, who was bedridden with a back injury at the time, said she would sit at home and listen to the scanner, reporting suspicious conversations to police.

Police used her information to obtain search warrants for several homes in her neighborhood, Marks said. She also went "mobile" at Taylor's request, she said, buying a portable scanner and antenna for her car, and developing information on more than a dozen cases.

"Sometimes he would say, 'Just go and keep scanning until you pick up who we want to listen to," Marks said. "Other times he would give me specific frequencies."

Marks claims to have helped Taylor and police make some of their largest drug busts, including the May 2000 arrest of Harold "Jaybird" Watkins under the state's drug kingpin statute. Watkins, then 39, pleaded guilty to the charge and is serving a 30-year sentence. Prosecutors at the time revealed they used a legal wiretap to build their case.

Marks said Taylor still wanted her to stake out Watkins.

"He still wanted me to sit on him," Marks told investigators. "But to be careful, because he didn't want to tip off the other guys that were doing the surveillance work."

Marks also claimed to have eavesdropped on telephone conversations of Debra Oliver, a Swainton woman serving a 30-year prison sentence for the 1996 beating death of her boyfriend's 1-year-old daughter. Investigators used the information to question Oliver, Marks said.

Marks said her involvement included making undercover buys, staking out houses and even typing reports.

She also told investigators she transmitted on Middle Township's police frequency and was assigned a code name for the Major Crimes Unit where Taylor worked.

"I was MC-7," said Marks, who referred to herself as the township's "secret weapon."

Attorney D. William Subin said Taylor disputes Marks' allegations.

Subin did not name Marks, but did respond to the allegations she has made.

"There are many allegations made by this informant that are totally false and incorrect," Subin said. Subin said that his client cooperated completely with prosecutors. Other witnesses also supported the detective's account, Subin said.

Subin said Taylor was an aggressive and conscientious police officer with an unblemished personnel record and a knack for making many drug arrests.

"He probably had more search warrants than anyone else in the county."

Subin said that the informant's claims may have been fueled by personal animosity against his client.

Taylor had accepted the "sanctions" of a suspension, Subin said, but was not being forced to retire.

"He's eligible to retire even if this hadn't happened," Subin said.

Meyer agreed, but said Taylor's retirement was a factor in his office's decision to let the matter be handled administratively.

Marks said she was drawn into the Taylor investigation when the township's Internal Affairs officer was probing complaints that Taylor had made derogatory remarks regarding black police officers in the township. Marks said she discussed the scanners during that interview, which happened last March.

The township Police Department declined to comment on the case.

"This was their (county Prosecutor's Office) investigation," Capt. Joseph Evangelista said. "I have no comment on this case, the Police Department has no comment on this case."

Taylor, a 25-year veteran with the department, drew an annual salary of $63,463. He was suspended with pay in March.

Township officials said they still haven't received official notice about the 60-day suspension without pay, but they said they did receive Taylor's retirement papers.

"He has submitted them to the division of pensions," said Norm Lochten, director of personnel. "His retirement is effective Nov.1."

Lochten said Taylor is retiring with his pension.

Meanwhile, a Superior Court judge is reviewing the results of the prosecutor's investigation after defense lawyers for four defendants filed motions for the records.

Meyer would not speculate on whether Taylor's admission would affect those cases, saying they were under court review.

(Staff Writer Madhusmita Bora contributed to this report.)

To e-mail W.F. Keough at The Press:

[email-masked]