Police recruits sue Dayton over drug policy

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) Five people blocked from becoming police officers
because of a drugpolicy dispute filed a multimilliondollar federal
lawsuit against the city Thursday.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs were accepted into the Dayton
police academy, quit their jobs, moved their families to Dayton and bought
the necessary equipment.

But on May 18, Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge David Gowdown granted a
request by the Fraternal Order of Police to bar the five from beginning the
academy class and to allow the FOP to arbitrate the drug policy with the city.

The FOP said the city's Civil Service Board violated a 1995 contract
between the FOP and the city by accepting the recruits.

The contract bars the city from hiring police officers who have used
illegal drugs other than marijuana. Recruits also must have gone at least
two years without using marijuana.

Following a similar dispute last year, the board decided in January that
any police recruit who used illegal drugs in the past five years would be
disqualified. But it refused to uphold the stricter drug policy in the
current contract between the FOP and the city.

City Attorney Anthony Sawyer declined to comment.

The lawsuit said the five cannot support themselves and their families and
have lost retirement and health benefits. They seek damages of $5 million
apiece.