ORLEANS VOWS TIGHTER DRUG TESTS OF POLICE

Just a few weeks ago, Holley Police Chief Michael Grattan sat in the
audience at graduation for students in the anti-drug D.A.R.E program and
congratulated them for saying "no" to drugs.

Shortly before that, Grattan had organized an extensive search for drugs
using trained dogs at the Holley Central schools.

Medina Lt. Mike Russell, meanwhile, was hailed as a hero for taking four
bullets and killing a gunman inside a village pharmacy Sept. 4. He was
given the American Legion's "Officer of the Year Award" and got a special
Award of Valor from Medina Police Chief Jose Avila.

But for several years, State Police alleged, Grattan, Russell and Orleans
County sheriff's Sgt. Donald L. Stilwell Jr. were buying and using cocaine
while off-duty.

If the allegations prove true, the police departments had few mechanisms in
place to know it was going on.

Holley and Medina do not test their officers for drugs or alcohol after
they are hired. In the Orleans County Sheriff's Department, drug testing is
done during employment only when there is reasonable suspicion.

Stilwell was never suspected and therefore never tested after his hire,
said county Administrator Stanley Dudek.

Those administrative gaps may soon close. A day after the lawmen's arrest
on Monday, county legislators and village officials sternly announced that
they will crack down on substance abuse by strengthening testing. "We owe
it to the community to make every attempt we can to prevent it," Holley
Mayor Dan Schiavone said on Tuesday.

The officers have been suspended; State Police said additional charges and
arrests are possible.

Grattan, 38, and Stilwell, 40, were charged with attempted fourth-degree
criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony punishable by up to
2 1/3 to seven years in prison.

Russell, 31, was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a
controlled substance, a misdemeanor, which carries up to 90 days in jail.
They are free on bail and scheduled to appear Friday in Orleans County Court.

Investigators said the men were found in possession of cocaine during a
two-day operation last week in the village of Albion.

State law does not prescribe which jobs require drug testing, though public
employees are typically tested as part of pre-employment screening. As part
of the collective bargaining process, unions negotiate whether drug testing
is required for employees.

Several area counties recently established random drug testing for police
officers. Livingston and Ontario counties implemented it when new union
contracts were drawn last year, saying it was a way to build the public's
trust.

"We need to keep that type of abuse out of our workplace, especially
because we are held to a higher standard," said sheriff's Investigator
Douglas Morsch, vice president of the Livingston County Coalition of Patrol
Services.

Ronald Evangelista, president of the Monroe County Police Benevolent
Association, said most police departments in western New York test for
alcohol and drugs if there is reasonable suspicion. Monroe County agencies,
including the Rochester Police Department, adopted the policy about 15
years ago.

"It protects the employee, it protects the employer and it protects the
citizens," he said.

Smaller police departments may have shied away from drug testing because it
can be costly -- $75 to $100 per test -- and because they believe they have
greater oversight of their officers compared with larger departments, union
officials said.

But that sentiment has quickly changed in Orleans County. Avila, the Medina
police chief, said he never tested his officers for drugs but said he now
favors it.

"We're public servants, and the public expects nothing but the utmost from
us," he said.