DRUG INVESTIGATION SNARES TWO OFFICERS ONE FAILED TEST; OTHER REFUSED ONE

Two Louisville police officers are under investigation and their police
powers have been suspended after one failed a drug test and the other
refused to take one, officials said.

Officers George Fertig and James Redmond were assigned to desk jobs in late
November, pending the outcome of an internal investigation, said Officer
Aaron Graham, a police spokesman. When the investigation ends, the officers
could be reinstated, reprimanded, suspended or fired, he said.

Fertig tested positive for drug use, Graham said.

Neither officer is allowed to carry a weapon or use a police vehicle until
the investigation is complete. Graham did not know how long that would take.

Louisville police Chief Gene Sherrard said yesterday that the department
received information late last year that the officers were allegedly using
illegal drugs. However, he said, the investigation doesn't reflect a climate
of drug use in the department.

"Based on the information . . . there was a reasonable suspicion in our mind
that the officers may be using marijuana," Sherrard said. These are "two
very isolated incidents."

Fertig, a 2nd District officer, is a 19-year veteran of the force. He was
reassigned after failing the drug test in November, police said.

Redmond, a 5th District officer, has been on the force 15 years. He refused
to take a drug test when asked, also in late November. But a few days later
he agreed to take the test and passed. His reassignment was based on his
refusal to take the first test, police said.

Fertig's attorney, Tom Swicegood, wouldn't comment on the allegations
because the investigation is pending. He said, however, that "termination
will be unnecessary and inappropriate given the circumstances surrounding
Officer Fertig's allegations."

The investigation comes just months before a new random drug-testing policy
takes effect March 1.

Officer Rick McCubbin, president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police,
said the union and the city agreed that the department should conduct random
tests. McCubbin said that doesn't mean widespread drug use is suspected.

"I don't expect any officers to fail it," McCubbin said. But "I have to be
realistic and have to understand that the men and women of any police
department aren't perfect. Everyday stresses can hook anybody."

Sherrard, too, said he doesn't believe there will be a problem with officers
passing the test.

"Police officers are human beings and they are faced with some of the same
human weaknesses and frailties as every other human being in every other
occupation," he said.

Under the program, half of the force's 732 officers will be in a pool to be
tested this year and half next year.

A computer will randomly select an officer's number, and the officer will
have to immediately submit to a drug test. McCubbin said some officers could
be chosen several times while others in the same rotation might not be
picked at all.

If an officer fails the test, he or she will be tested again within days, if
not hours, McCubbin said. If the officer fails again, the chief can
recommend discipline ranging from counseling to termination.

Sherrard said the random tests will serve several purposes: warning officers
who are using drugs that they might get caught; deterring drug use; and
adding credibility that officers are drug free.

"Any concern about drug usage among officers . . . will be minimal,"
Sherrard said.