VETERAN OFFICER RESIGNS AFTER TESTING POSITIVE FOR COCAINE

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A 26-year veteran of the Jefferson County Police
Department has resigned after testing positive for cocaine in a random drug
screening, according to Chief William Carcara.

Capt. Daniel Borden, commander of the department's C District, resigned
Thursday, Carcara said.

"It's very disappointing to have to deal with this type of personnel
issue," Carcara said on Saturday. "But since I've been chief for 3 1/2
years, I've seen that police officers are human beings and human beings
make mistakes. Unfortunately, in our occupation we cannot tolerate mistakes
that cross the line into the criminal realm, and we have to deal with those
problems."

Borden, 51, had been on emergency suspension since June 3, when the
department learned he failed the drug test, Carcara said.

In a phone interview with The Courier-Journal, when Borden was asked if he
resigned because he tested positive for cocaine, he said, "No ... I
resigned for personal reasons and because of a misconduct that I saw in
myself."

Borden would not define the misconduct nor comment on the validity of the
drug screen.

But he did say, "Based on what I saw as my misconduct, I did look into a
employee-assistance program, which indicated I did not have a problem" but
that taking some educational program would be "good for me."

The test results triggered an internal investigation, which will continue
despite Borden's resignation, to make sure that all of the facts of the
case are uncovered and passed along to the Jefferson County commonwealth's
attorney's office, Carcara said.

"Usually, on a drug screening random sample test, there's no prosecution,
we just want an independent review of the facts," he said.

Borden, who led the district that covers the Fairdale and Okolona areas,
had a "very good career" with the department prior to the drug screen,
Carcara said. Borden still will be eligible for retirement benefits.

"Nothing in his performance as district commander indicated that there was
a problem," Carcara said.

Borden said he has no immediate plans to seek other law enforcement work.

Carcara recently reinstituted random drug tests after working with the
Fraternal Order of Police to come up with approaches to the process that
would ensure the tests' reliability and take officers' privacy rights into
consideration.

Carcara said he wants to "aggressively seek out anybody that has an
addiction problem and to address that issue."