'I'LL TAKE DRUG TEST': CHIEF

TORONTO -- Toronto's scandal-plagued police force took another step
yesterday to shore up its tarnished image as its chief offered to be
the first to undergo a major proposed reform: random drug testing. The
recommendation for drug testing came in a report on cleaning up
corruption commissioned by police Chief Julian Fantino after
allegations against the force's now-disbanded drug squad, which led to
criminal charges against six officers this year.

"I'll be the first one to volunteer to undergo random drug tests,"
Fantino told a news conference.

The proposal for some form of drug testing addresses a serious
concern, said the report's author, retired Ontario justice George Ferguson.

"If a police officer has a gun and he is with another police officer
and he has a drug problem, ... the immediate risk to himself, to the
other officer and to the members of the public, (is an) unbelievable
risk," Ferguson said.

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Ferguson's 32 recommendations include moving the internal affairs
department out of headquarters so it would have more independence,
mandatory drug testing for officers in certain sensitive positions and
more horough background checks for potential recruits.

The retired judge can also make further recommendations, Fantino
said.

"His greatly expanded mandate will accelerate our process of change,"
Fantino said. "I believe the people of Toronto and the police service
will be the winners as a result."

Some of Ferguson's recommendations have already been implemented, but
others such as drug testing have not.

Ontario's Human Rights Commission has issued a policy that random drug
testing can only be used in "limited circumstances" and is an obstacle
in this case, Ferguson said.