Embattled Police Chief Drove Seized Mercedes : Newport Beach: Campbell used car for personal trips, officers say. Law on use of forfeited items is vague.

NEWPORT BEACH —  Police Chief Arb Campbell, who faces allegations of rape and sexual harassment, used a Mercedes-Benz luxury sedan that was confiscated in a drug bust under a state law intended to enhance the effectiveness of police officers on the street.

Although Campbell had been assigned a city-leased Ford Taurus, city records show that the 1985 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL assigned to his office has been used repeatedly since August, 1991, for routine police functions or to ferry Campbell’s lieutenants for short trips during lunch.

Officers and other employees in his department said the chief frequently used the Mercedes for personal travel, including weekend outings with his family.

Such trips might violate state asset forfeiture laws, which say that property confiscated in narcotics cases may be kept by police on the condition that it is used for law enforcement purposes and add to--not replace--existing resources. Though the law is vague, law enforcement officials say, parts of it are intended to prevent the spoils of the drug war from being diverted to personal or routine uses.

“The purpose of asset forfeiture basically isn’t to give police chiefs or anybody else the ability to ride around in a fancy car unless they are doing undercover work and must act like a fancy drug dealer,” said Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco), chairman of the state Public Safety Committee, which is reviewing asset seizure laws.

Campbell, who was put on paid leave last month after he and Capt. Anthony R. Villa Jr. were accused of rape and sexual harassment in a civil lawsuit, has been unavailable for comment. But his attorney, Bruce Praet, shrugged off concerns that Campbell misused the automobile before being relieved of command.

“It’s been placed into the Police Department’s fleet to be used for any law enforcement purpose,” Praet said. “The vast majority of its use is on undercover things because it’s such a non-stereotypical police car.”

Praet said that if the fleet included “a pickup truck, a Volkswagen and a Mercedes, which would you use?”

Newport Beach police obtained the silver gray sedan about two years ago after it was seized in a narcotics case. The car had about 75,000 miles on it when it was put into police service in August, 1991, according to a city memo. It was assigned to the Administrative Division-Office of the Chief where, the memo says, it was “used primarily by Chief Campbell.” According to the city, the sedan now has about 83,000 miles on it.

Five department employees, some of whom requested anonymity, said Campbell repeatedly took the car for a variety of reasons, including Police Department business, routine trips around town and trips to the Palm Springs area. Sometimes, officers said, they saw the chief driving the Mercedes to his home at the tip of the Balboa Peninsula.

Acting Police Chief Jim Jacobs, who was appointed Oct. 15--the day Campbell was accused of raping a police dispatcher 11 years ago--said Campbell was not required under city policy to log his use of the Mercedes-Benz.

According to the department, the Mercedes is assigned only to vice and narcotics detectives. Although Jacobs said he believed that the Mercedes is not a newsworthy topic, he has removed it from use by the chief’s office.