2 TOLEDO OFFICERS FAIL RANDOM TEST FOR DRUGS, ARE RELIEVED OF DUTY

Two Toledo Police officers are temporarily off duty without pay after
the department's first random drug testing revealed that both had
allegedly used marijuana.

Police Chief Mike Navarre declined to identify the officers last night
pending their administrative hearings.

One of the officers allegedly admitted to a personnel captain Friday
that he had used marijuana and was immediately taken off-duty. The
other was forced off-duty Monday, the same day administrators received
results of the drug tests, Chief Navarre said.

The Toledo Police Department randomly screened 48 patrol officers for
drugs with urine tests last Thursday.

"The public expects and should demand that police officers that are
given this authority - a badge, a gun, authority to make arrests - are
of the highest caliber and should be the most physically and mentally
fit," Chief Navarre said. "They are not individuals who use illegal
drugs."

The officers are not likely to face criminal charges because there is
no evidence, the chief said, although they could lose their jobs.

The testing marks the first time in the department's history that
rank-and-file officers have been subjected to random drug screening.
Before the practice was allowed in the latest union contract with the
Toledo Police Patrolman's Association in July, patrol officers only
could be tested when there was "reasonable suspicion," Chief Navarre
said.

Union President Dan Wagner said negotiators agreed to the drug test
provision as leverage to gain other privileges in the contract.

By agreeing to the drug tests, patrol officers gained the right to
choose their assigned police station and narrowed their fluctuating
start times from a four-hour window to two hours.

Chief Navarre said police administrators have been seeking the right
to randomly drug test for decades. Mr. Wagner said the union would
have allowed the practice years ago, but administrators "didn't want
to give anything in return for it."

The chief declined to disclose how often the random drug tests would
be conducted. The urine tests cost the department about $24 per
officer. A union representative will attend administrative hearings
with the accused officers.

The drug suspensions follow on the heels of two Toledo officers being
relieved of duty last month and criminally charged after reportedly
being intoxicated while on duty.

James W. Breier, 53, a 27-year veteran of the department, responded to
an Oct. 23 traffic crash and appeared to be drunk, commanding officers
said.

Eight days later, Officer Donald Mitchell, a 12-year veteran, showed
signs of drunkenness at the start of his shift, officers said.

Both were taken to the Lucas County jail and refused to take
Breathalyzer tests for a criminal investigation. They both were
required to do so for administrative investigations.

Both officers have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges and have
pretrial hearings in Toledo Municipal Court on Dec. 10. They both are
on the job, but are on restricted duty. Their administrative hearings
have not been scheduled.