CICERO MOVES TO FIRE POLICE COMMANDER

Cops Found Marijuana In Car During Stop; Town Has Zero-Tolerance Policy

Cicero is moving to fire a police commander who had a small amount of
marijuana in his car this year when Chicago police pulled him over
for a traffic infraction, the town president said Friday.

Wesley Scott, Cicero's first black police officer, also would be the
first town employee to be fired under a new zero-tolerance drug
policy, a Cicero spokesman said.

"This is an extremely difficult decision for me," Town President
Larry Dominick, a former Cicero police officer, said in a prepared
statement. "I promoted Wesley Scott to police commander. I have known
Wesley Scott for more than 20 years and have long considered him a
good friend. I still believe Wesley Scott is a good and decent man."

Scott, who has been on paid administrative leave for more than four
months, is now being placed on 30 days of unpaid leave pending the
outcome of the effort. Dominick said he soon will file charges of
conduct unbecoming an officer against Scott with the Cicero Police
Board, the group that would have to approve his termination.

Scott, who earns more than $80,000 a year, repeatedly has declined to
comment on the matter and did not return calls seeking comment Friday.

Chicago police pulled Scott over Jan. 27 for failing to stop at a
stop sign. Police say he had a burned marijuana cigarette in the car
and 4.6 grams of the drug in a bag on top of his console. He was
charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession, but the charge was
dropped on May 7 after he completed a drug school diversion program.

After his arrest, Cicero officials ordered Scott to take a hair
follicle drug test, but he was given a urine test instead, a mistake
that wasn't discovered until test results showed he had passed it.
Town officials immediately ordered him to take a hair follicle test,
which can detect drugs in a person's system going back several weeks.

Town officials will not reveal the outcome of the second test.

Dominick said it's important for town employees to set a good example
for the community.

"A zero-tolerance drug policy is especially important with respect to
our public safety personnel and those persons charged with combating
gangs and drugs in Cicero," he said. "As painful as it is for me to
take this action against Wesley, my job as town president requires
that I put the interests of the town and its residents ahead of my
personal friendships."

Dominick said some may consider Scott's offense a minor infraction,
but the incident was too serious to ignore. He said it undermined
Scott's ability to serve in a law enforcement capacity.

"Some may see Wesley's mistake as a relatively minor one," he said.
"However, as a police officer for 20 years in Cicero, I saw (and I
know Wesley has similarly seen during his tenure of service) the
destruction wrought by the drug trade-and the gang activity financed
by the drug trade. To whom much is given, much is expected."

Town spokesman Dan Proft said he is not sure when the case will come
before the Police Board.

Scott, who asked to be demoted from captain shortly after his arrest,
may claim he has the rights guaranteed police officers as part of
their collective bargaining agreement, Proft said. But it is the
town's position that Scott was a police commander, a non-union employee.

Proft said all non-collective bargaining employees-including
Scott-must adhere to the zero-tolerance policy. Dominick, he said,
wants to extend the policy to police officers and firefighters.