They were dispatched to bars to find and develop sources of information about stolen property. Instead, eight undercover police officers dubbed "the margarita crew" by bartenders partied hard at taxpayers' expense, spending $10,000 on restaurant and bar bills.
The officers, who have been suspended, didn't develop a single source, suspect or informant, authorities said."This is a sad day for the department," Police Chief Lars Jarvie said Friday.
The money was spent between May 1, 1991, and Oct. 30, 1992, while the officers were members of EVICT, the multi-agency East Valley Interdicts Criminal Trafficking Project created to investigate property crimes, authorities said.
Some of the money went for Groucho Marx masks for a staff photo, a Tasmanian Devil key chain, darts and a pornographic magazine. The unit also borrowed police bicycles for a personal trip to Colorado.
The unit was headed by John Werner, a Mesa police sergeant promoted to lieutenant before the start of the probe.
A criminal investigation into the unit completed by the Department of Public Safety in October 1994 led last year to a nine-count felony indictment of Werner, who is awaiting trial on seven counts of tampering with public records and single counts of theft and fraud.
The unit set up in 1987 is credited with recovery of about $1 million in stolen property, but that was from sources developed before the task force started up, police said. The task force itself didn't develop a single criminal case, the department said.
The suspensions without pay range from 18 days to five, most of them beginning next week, said Sgt. Earle Lloyd, a department spokesman.
Two members of the task force, one each from the Tempe Police Department and the Sheriff's Office, have not been disciplined. Spokesmen for those agencies said Friday that they had just received Mesa's investigative report and would review it.
The eight suspended are patrol Officers Michael Collins, 33; Brian Godsil, 44; David Mauser, 40; Elizabeth Pringle, 34; Mark Reese, 35; and Ed Valinski, 48; Sgt. Carl McCormies, 33; and civilian investigator Diane Puls, 35.