COHOES -- An Albany County sheriff's narcotics unit that operates with seeming autonomy from a nondescript office in Cohoes used criminal seizure funds last year to purchase several expensive "take-home" vehicles for its investigators and the county's Stop-DWI coordinator.

The purchases, made with a mix of money and vehicles taken in criminal cases, underscore the sometimes unorthodox operations of a controversial drug unit that county officials said has not been audited in years.

Inspector John Burke, who heads the sheriff's Drug Interdiction Unit, said he purchased a $40,235 Toyota Sequoia for himself a year ago because "I don't want any cars that look like cop cars." Burke said his unit arrested about 20 prostitutes in 2010; that he usually plays the role of the "john" and his Toyota SUV helps disguise he's a cop.

Last year, Sheriff James L. Campbell also authorized Burke to purchase -- with the help of criminal seizure funds -- a 2010 Toyota Tundra pickup for $38,453 and a $28,342 Toyota Highlander SUV. All of the purchases were made at Northway Toyota in Latham, records show. The 2010 pickup is driven by one of Burke's five investigators, all of who drive take-home vehicles. The Highlander SUV is assigned to Leonard Crouch, the county's Stop-DWI coordinator, who, like the investigators is authorized, to take it home.

Burke and Campbell both said their decision to use drug-seizure money to buy Crouch's vehicle was justifiable because Crouch is a certified police officer. Crouch's administrative position doesn't require law enforcement credentials and he has no official police duties, but he has occasionally assisted Burke on drug raids, the sheriff said.

"It saves us from having to buy a car (with) the Stop-DWI funding," Campbell said.

There is no record that county lawmakers or the comptroller's office were consulted on the purchases, which are documented by a dealer's invoice and one-page requisition orders signed by the sheriff. It's unclear whether the older-model vehicles Burke used as trade-ins were county-owned or seized in criminal cases.

A review of vehicle purchase records for the Albany County District Attorney's Office and the sheriff's department shows that nearly all other vehicles in those fleets were purchased through pre-approved contracts negotiated by the state through competitive bidding. Like the sheriff's department, the district attorney's office also has take-home vehicles that are used by investigators and prosecutors who are bureau chiefs.

The investigators in Burke's unit include an Albany city detective who has been permanently assigned there for several years and drives a Jeep SUV. "As a general rule, our detectives don't take vehicles home," said Albany Deputy Chief Stephen Reilly. He said he's unfamiliar with their detective's use of a sheriff's SUV.

The other vehicles purchased by the six-man sheriff's unit include a 2008 Toyota 4-Runner that was purchased for $34,232 with seizure funds in March 2009, and two 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokees purchased through state contracts at a list price of $21,169.

Campbell said allowing the rank-and-file investigators to have take-home vehicles is a matter of economics.

"Their day ends anywhere in Albany County," the sheriff said. "A lot of their activity goes into the night. ... If they weren't take-home vehicles they would have to leave it in Cohoes. ... They're not to be used for their personal business."

Burke, 60, established the sheriff's drug unit about 20 years ago when he retired as an Albany detective. He's received a state civil service waiver for nearly two decades in a noncompetitive inspector's job that allows him to collect his $32,035 annual police pension on top of an $87,704 county salary.

Abuses of so-called 211 waivers in government agencies, known as "double-dipping," led state leaders in recent years to say they were clamping down on the waivers. The rules are discretionary and allow someone to obtain a waiver if the state Civil Service Commission agrees no other qualified candidates are available for the job.

Copies of applications for the drug inspector's job show some of the applicants have extensive experience, including a former New York Police Department investigator with anti-terrorism and federal drug task force experience. All said they would move to Albany County if hired.

But Campbell said none of the applicans are familiar with the area and some may require a pension waiver as a condition of employment.

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"The way I look at it where can I get anybody better than him," the sheriff said of Burke. "He is doing a good job. He is like a 22-year-old kid when it comes to the streets and drug enforcement. He hasn't lost any enthusiasm ... and somebody coming in new would have to learn all about the county."

Burke dismisses what he perceives are critics within the law enforcement community who privately question his unit's priorities, including low-level prostitution stings. Burke also has been accused of overstating the value of drugs his unit seizes.

"I just take what the street value is worth," he said. "Again, that's jealousy. I don't blow my numbers out."

In January, Burke announced that in 2010, his unit seized drugs with a street value in excess of $3.87 million. Asked to affirm the figure, Albany County prosecutors said case files in their office from that unit did not add up to $3.87 million in drug values. One prosecutor referred to the discrepancy as "Burke-onomics."

It may be a matter of how the math is done.

In February, Burke publicly announced his unit seized $170,000 in cocaine from an Arizona man arrested at the Albany bus terminal, where the sheriff's unit often trolls for "drug mules." The 26-year-old man arrested that month, Johnny Luis Cantu, had six ounces of cocaine sewn into his underwear, Burke said.

In response to general questions, Francisco Calderon, bureau chief of the Albany County district attorney's Street Crimes Unit, said six ounces of cocaine is "not even close" to being valued at $170,000. Calderon said his office uses prices set by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Six ounces of cocaine would fetch less than $10,000. If broken into grams it could be worth about $16,800, Calderon said.

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Burke said he thinks fellow law enforcement officers may grumble about his work because they resent the unit's success and ability to hand-pick cases. The DIU has had controversies, including tactics scolded by appellate courts in which investigators have profiled, stopped and frisked passengers at the Albany bus station.

In 2009, the county paid $125,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a bus passenger who had been strip-searched by sheriff's investigators and then forcibly sedated at a hospital, without a court order, so his body could be medically searched for drugs. No drugs were found.

Burke also has many supporters. Two of his investigators, Carmen Frangella and Gary McMullen, have received praise from county prosecutors for their work in multimillion-dollar gambling cases and their expertise in wiretapping.

"I've been doing this a long time, and I think I'm an expert in the field. Not many people can do what I do," Burke said. "There is no corruption. There's nothing here. ... I started this unit, and when I started it back then, I worked probably 80 hours a week. ... I work my ass off."

On the vehicle purchases Burke said he didn't use traditional county procedures because it's more efficient to buy directly from a dealership. "The reason I don't want to do state contracts is because I don't want any cars that look like cop cars," he said. "Whatever paperwork I do, the sheriff oversees it."

Crouch, whose Toyota SUV is equipped with lights and siren, also has a civil service waiver. He collects a $37,814 annual pension in addition to a $64,297 county salary, records show.

A state Civil Service panel has repeatedly approved two-year pension waivers for Crouch and Burke. The last time, in December 2009, the commission ruled in a proceeding that took less than a minute that Burke and Crouch were the only people qualified for their jobs. The sheriff received six applications for the inspector's job and none for DWI coordinator.

The sheriff set minimum qualifications for the DWI post that mirror Crouch's extensive police background. Applicants must be a county resident, be a certified police officer and accident investigator, and hold police experience as a traffic safety supervisor. There is no education requirement.

It's not clear why the DWI coordinator needs to be a certified accident investigator. Campbell said Crouch does not handle accident investigations but his police background has enhanced the job.

Crouch's predecessor, Denis P. Foley, was coordinator for more than 20 years. Foley has no law enforcement background and handled the job as a civilian administrator. Foley said the program's only vehicle then was an older-model van used to transport promotional materials and employees to events.

Crouch referred questions for this story to the sheriff.

"I will reserve that until I see where this is going, and then I'll be happy to comment, probably Monday," Crouch said. "I have an ugly, tingling suspicion as to the genesis of this whole thing, and I'll deal with that issue publicly in the very near future."

Crouch's 20-year-old son, Brian, was killed in an alcohol-related crash near Siena College in 2001 and Campbell said the former police commander is passionate about his job and has a connection with people who have endured similar tragedies. The sheriff said Crouch also has a good relationship with police and works long hours crisscrossing the county coordinating enforcement efforts, overseeing post-conviction rules for criminal defendants and promoting anti-DWI programs.

"You get better cooperation and better results from the police agencies. It's a partnership now," Campbell said. "He takes this Stop-DWI personally because of his son. ... The chances of meeting him at night, in a uniform, are pretty good. ... He's really into it."