The Baltimore Police Department offered to reinstate the suspended supervisor of a unit that was disbanded after allegations of misconduct in exchange for the sergeant dropping a defamation lawsuit he brought against two members of the force, according to a letter from the agency's chief legal council.

The officer, Sgt. Robert Smith, was in charge of the Southwestern District's "flex squad" - an aggressive unit whose members had broad liberties to chase down drug dealers in high-crime neighborhoods - when allegations surfaced in January 2006 that a woman had been raped by a member of that squad in the police station.

Three officers faced criminal charges. One, Jemini Jones, was acquitted, and the cases were dropped against the other two. Jones was dismissed from the department.

The rape accusations fueled an internal review of the unit during which investigators searched the station and reported finding dice, a Texas hold 'em poker set, illegal drugs in office drawers, pornographic magazines, counterfeit digital video discs and suspected heroin, marijuana and cocaine, according to a search warrant.

Records show that Smith was on vacation when the alleged rape occurred, but the department suspended him in January 2006, accusing him of running the unit poorly.

Smith filed a defamation lawsuit in May 2006 against two members of the department, accusing them of intentionally leaking information to the media so that Smith would take the blame for a unit that was causing public embarrassment.

The department offered last month to restore Smith's police powers and give him his job back if he would drop the defamation lawsuit, according to a letter from the Police Department that was disclosed this week in The Examiner.

The letter, written by the department's chief legal council, Karen S. Hornig, says: "If Sgt. Smith is willing to accept a 'middle letter of discipline' for neglect of duty, he will have all police powers restored to him and return to a position within Operations." It was sent Feb. 20.

Clark F. Ahlers, an attorney for Smith, said his client refused to make the deal.

"He didn't do anything wrong," Ahlers said. "The department keeps alleging that he did something wrong. If he did something wrong, why not arrest him? Otherwise, quit hinting that he did something wrong when he didn't."

Ahlers also defended his client's management of the unit.

"While he was supervising them, their productivity soared and complaints went way, way down," Ahlers said. "He ran a tight ship."

Seven days after the Police Department offered the deal, officials charged Smith with violations of six internal policies. One charge accuses him of a Dec. 27, 2005, sex offense in the same case in which Jones had been accused. The documents show that the internal-investigation division recommended that Smith be fired.

The documents allege that Smith "aided and abetted" the sexual assault "by pushing a door closed from the outside of the office" where one officer was having sex with a civilian.

Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the Police Department, would not comment on the settlement agreement or any specifics of the case.

He said it is not uncommon for the department to use a single charging document and apply it to a number of officers whom the command staff thinks violated department regulations.

"They contain a lot of potential charges," Clifford said, "not all of which will be brought before a trial board. Additional charges can be added or dropped as it goes on."

Ahlers, Smith's attorney, said, "That is patently absurd."

annie.linskey@baltsun.com