'ZERO' POLICY COULD SLASH RECRUIT POOL

Nine current Denver police officers and firefighters never
would have been hired if Mayor Wellington Webb's new zero-tolerance
policy against past cocaine use had taken effect in 1998.

And if the ban included all narcotics stronger than marijuana - which
Webb's office said could happen - a total of 23 firefighters and
police officers wouldn't have been hired.

Webb announced the new policy last week, saying it will apply to all
future recruits. But any past cocaine users among the current academy
classes will be exempt, Webb said. To do otherwise would be "too
disruptive." That means seven public safety hopefuls won't be shown
the door despite having admitted to using cocaine, some of them
extensively, according to applications filed with the Denver Civil
Service Commission.

Among those seven: controversial police recruit Ellis "Max" Johnson
II, who was accepted into the police academy in November despite an
extensive history of drug use and theft, and over the objections of
former Police Chief Tom Sanchez.

"Ellis will complete the academy," Webb said. "The view was he was so
far into the program that it would be disruptive since he's already
in. There's enough change going on within the institution that we need
to deal with the next class rather than go in retroactively."

While Webb's zero-tolerance edict initially was billed as applying
just to police recruits, it also will cover future firefighters and
sheriff's deputies, Webb spokesman Andrew Hudson said.

If Webb had to abide by his own cocaine-free policy, he would pass the
scrutiny "with flying colors," the mayor said. Manager of Safety Butch
Montoya, who will enforce Webb's new rule, said he'd pass, too.

The ban also could extend to other narcotics if that's what a
blue-ribbon panel reviewing the Civil Service Commission's hiring
practices recommends, Hudson said.

"The mayor thought the cocaine was a starting point," Hudson said.
"The cocaine ban could be modified to other drugs, but at this point
the mayor felt it was important to start with cocaine."

The issue stems from the controversy over the 40-year-old
Johnson.

Despite Johnson's history and the objections of Sanchez, Montoya hired
him.

Sanchez was forced to step down last month and called his resistance
to Johnson's hiring "the beginning of my Waterloo."

The seven-member panel appointed by Webb to study the commission's
hiring practices is charged with determining whether the current
criteria for recruit eligibility are fair and consistent with those of
other cities.

The Denver Post reviewed fire department applications for the last
five academy classes and police department applications for the last
four classes, both dating back to 1998.

If the past is indicative of the future, The Post found, Denver could
find itself tossing applicants on a regular basis, especially if the
cocaine ban grows to include most narcotics.

Since March 1998, for example, the city has hired 14 firefighters and
police officers who never used cocaine but experimented with drugs
other than marijuana.

They admitted to using narcotics as harsh as LSD, speed and
amphetamines, or admitted that they illegally sold steroids.

An additional four are currently in the police academy awaiting
graduation, records show. None of the current recruits in the fire
academy has admitting to experimenting with drugs other than marijuana
or cocaine.

When limited to cocaine, the numbers are just as high.

Ten of 119 fire recruits would not have been admitted had the cocaine
ban been in effect when they applied.

And the last four police academy classes would have been without six
of their 111 recruits, commission records show.

If the city were to insist on a completely drug-free past, just 88
police and fire academy recruits since 1998 would have passed muster,
records show. But 141 - twothirds of whom admitted only to smoking
marijuana - wouldn't have.

Currently, the Civil Service Commission's guidelines allow recruits to
have used any illegal drug up to one year before applying for a
public-safety job with the city.

While recruits submit to random drug testing, the police and fire
departments cannot test an officer or firefighter randomly without
probable cause, city officials said.

And if an officer is caught using drugs, or tests positive, that
person is relieved of duty with pay pending an internal investigation,
Deputy Police Chief David Abrams said. If there's to be a criminal
prosecution, the officer doesn't automatically lose his job until the
case is decided, he said.

"Frankly, if it was up to me, I would recommend that any officer who
uses drugs be terminated immediately," Abrams said.

As the five-member Civil Service Commission begins to sort through
hundreds of applications for the next wave of testing, its members are
wondering if they should toughen the standards on recruits and include
all narcotics, according to commissioners who refused to be quoted.

The problem is how to determine which drugs are OK and which aren't,
they said. And if they make the standards too tough, they'll risk not
having enough candidates. The police and fire academies each average
about two classes every year.

"Statistically, if you take everything and ban it, then you'll end up
with nothing," said commission executive director Paul Torres. "This
is not easy." Montoya said the review panel will help solve the dilemma.

"The blue-ribbon panel is to be looking at all the standards, and I
suspect they'll look at other drugs as well, not just cocaine,"
Montoya said. "I think it's up to the commission and the panel to
review what the standard will be."