COP WHO LET TEEN FLUSH EVIDENCE OF 'LEAFY SUBSTANCE' GETS JOB BACK

A Tucson police officer who was fired after allowing a boy to flush a
"leafy substance" down the toilet has won has job back, his attorney
said Monday.

Officer Douglas Dreher was fired March 31 after an internal-affairs
investigation concluded that he was being untruthful during his
reporting of the incident, according to attorney Mike Storie. Storie
gave the following account:

On Dec. 15, Dreher took a boy into custody and took him up to his
apartment, where Dreher found a plastic bag with a "leafy substance,"
Storie said.

Thinking that it was tobacco, Dreher told the boy that he could either
flush it down the toilet or be arrested for having it, Storie said.

The boy chose to flush it down the toilet, he said.

Another officer who was working the same call reported to the
department that Dreher mishandled evidence by allowing the boy to
flush it and that he believed that the substance was marijuana, not
tobacco, Storie said.

An internal-affairs investigation was launched as a result, during
which Dreher was asked what he thought the substance was, Storie said.
Dreher said tobacco.

He was asked if he tested the substance before allowing the boy to
flush it and Dreher said he did not, Storie said.

The department determined that Dreher was lying about the fact that he
thought the substance was tobacco and he was fired.

On Aug. 12, Dreher went before the Civil Service Commission. The
hearing was continued to Thursday, when the commission voted to
reinstate his job, Storie said.

"They found that he was not dishonest but did say that he mishandled
evidence," Storie said.

Dreher was given 100 hours of suspension - which essentially has
already been served, Storie said. He will return to work
immediately.

"Doug and I are thrilled that the commission considered the evidence
carefully and found that he should be returned to his position,"
Storie said. "Doug is looking forward to returning to work and holds
no ill will towards the department."'

Less than a month before the December incident, Dreher shot and killed
a man who attacked him with his own baton after a traffic stop,
Arizona Daily Star archives show.

The use of deadly force was deemed justified.