Two Toledo Police officers are temporarily off duty without pay after the department's first random drug testing revealed that both had allegedly used marijuana.
Police Chief Mike Navarre declined to identify the officers last night pending their administrative hearings.
One of the officers allegedly admitted to a personnel captain Friday that he had used marijuana and was immediately taken off-duty. The other was forced off-duty Monday, the same day administrators received results of the drug tests, Chief Navarre said.
The Toledo Police Department randomly screened 48 patrol officers for drugs with urine tests last Thursday.
"The public expects and should demand that police officers that are given this authority - a badge, a gun, authority to make arrests - are of the highest caliber and should be the most physically and mentally fit," Chief Navarre said. "They are not individuals who use illegal drugs."
The officers are not likely to face criminal charges because there is no evidence, the chief said, although they could lose their jobs.The testing marks the first time in the department's history that rank-and-file officers have been subjected to random drug screening. Before the practice was allowed in the latest union contract with the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association in July, patrol officers only could be tested when there was "reasonable suspicion," Chief Navarre said.
Union President Dan Wagner said negotiators agreed to the drug test provision as leverage to gain other privileges in the contract.
By agreeing to the drug tests, patrol officers gained the right to choose their assigned police station and narrowed their fluctuating start times from a four-hour window to two hours.
Chief Navarre said police administrators have been seeking the right to randomly drug test for decades. Mr. Wagner said the union would have allowed the practice years ago, but administrators "didn't want to give anything in return for it."
The chief declined to disclose how often the random drug tests would be conducted. The urine tests cost the department about $24 per officer. A union representative will attend administrative hearings with the accused officers.
The drug suspensions follow on the heels of two Toledo officers being relieved of duty last month and criminally charged after reportedly being intoxicated while on duty.
James W. Breier, 53, a 27-year veteran of the department, responded to an Oct. 23 traffic crash and appeared to be drunk, commanding officers said.
Eight days later, Officer Donald Mitchell, a 12-year veteran, showed signs of drunkenness at the start of his shift, officers said.
Both were taken to the Lucas County jail and refused to take Breathalyzer tests for a criminal investigation. They both were required to do so for administrative investigations.
Both officers have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges and have pretrial hearings in Toledo Municipal Court on Dec. 10. They both are on the job, but are on restricted duty. Their administrative hearings have not been scheduled.
Contact Bridget Tharp at:
btharp@theblade.com
or 419-724-6086.
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