TEST SHOWED MARIJUANA IN RESIGNED CAPTAIN'S SYSTEM

A Macon police captain who resigned last week as the city's highest
ranking policewoman did so after testing positive for marijuana.

Capt. Lynn Register was suspended without pay March 16, three days
after taking a random, department-mandated drug test, according to
city personnel documents obtained by The Macon Telegraph through a
Georgia Open Records Act request. The test showed signs of marijuana
in Register's system, according to records released by the police department.

Register, eligible for retirement benefits in about three years, is in
the process of seeking a medical pension for neck and back problems
sustained while on the job in the early 1990s, her attorney said Tuesday.

Lawyer Mike Cranford spoke of Register's health problems - not her
drug-test result - as a factor in her stepping down.

"I think it has caught up to her, worn her down. Obviously, you just
get tired of being in pain all the time. And she just felt like it was
time to make a change. She couldn't function any more on the level
that she could function as a police officer," Cranford said.

Register, 46, resigned March 21, a day before the scheduled imposition
of Police Chief John Vasquez's recommendation that she be fired.

Some details of Register's resignation were obtained through an
open-records request. Last week, Vasquez, citing department and city
policy, said it would be 10 days before he could discuss specifics of
the captain's departure.

The chief did not return phone calls Tuesday, nor did Macon Mayor C.
Jack Ellis. At a city retreat earlier this year, Vasquez said he did
not think his officers were being tested often enough. The city said
it was stepping up its drug-testing program. But a reporter asking if
any other officers had failed drug tests was told he would have to
submit a written request for the information.

Register, a 22-year department veteran, referred questions about her
resignation to her attorney, but did offer one remark: "I'm still kind
of in shock," she said.

A veteran beat cop and patrol supervisor, her most recent position was
that of deputy commander of the department's management services division.

Because her years of service with the department come up short of the
25 years required to receive retirement benefits, Register will go
before the city pension board in coming weeks to seek an exception.

"Right now, what we're working on is trying to get her a medical
retirement because of injuries that she has sustained over the years.
She has got a permanent partial disability already," Cranford said.

"She wouldn't be eligible to get her pension until 2003. Because of
her medical condition, she needs all the help she can get right now."