DRUG USE, DUI NO BAR TO JOB AS STATE TROOPER

People who have tried heroin and cocaine or have a drunken driving
conviction are no longer automatically disqualified from becoming Virginia
state troopers.

In a change in policy that department officials insist is not lowering
standards, prospective troopers and special agents no longer must have a
spotless record to join the department.

"It's the right thing to do in some situations," said Lt. Col. Donald R.
Martin, the agency's deputy superintendent.

The new requirements, Martin said, will better take into account "a
person's entire employment and life history" and doesn't automatically
disqualify an otherwise worthy candidate for a mistake made early in life.

"Our present policy would not allow us to even consider that person at all,
even if they've lived an exemplary life" after a mistake they made as a
teen, Martin ex-plained.

Some veteran officers have privately expressed dismay about the new policy,
which was distributed within the department last week. They fear the
measure, which became effective last Friday, will put unsuitable officers
in their ranks and tarnish the department's reputation of accepting only
the best.

"I think it would lower the standards," one officer said. "You got to be
real careful when you start dealing with hard drugs."

The officer said he's seen other police agencies, such as Washington, lower
hiring standards with disastrous results.

"I'd hate to see the Virginia State Police take the same route," he said.

Martin emphatically downplayed those concerns yesterday.

"I do not think it does lower the standards," he said. "It just gives us an
opportunity to make our process more open and fair. We're not going to
employ anyone and put them in this blue-and-gray uniform that does not meet
the high standards of Virginia State Police."

Martin said the change doesn't necessarily mean that a person who has used
drugs or was convicted of drunken driving would be hired. It simply allows
the department to consider the person as a candidate.

"We could at least delve a little bit further into his background to see if
this was a pattern or to see if it was just a one-time mistake the person
made," he said.

According to the new guidelines, a person convicted of driving under the
influence more than five years before the date of his application would be
eligible for consideration. Anyone with more than one DUI conviction would
automatically be disqualified.

In addition, anyone who used heroin, cocaine or any other Schedule I or
Schedule II drug more than five years before applying could be considered.
However, if an applicant used those drugs more than once, he or she would
be disqualified.

In addition, any use of LSD or PCP would result in automatic disqualification.

A different standard applies to marijuana use. An applicant could have used
it more than once to be considered eligible for employment, but not within
the past 12 months.

State police are following the lead of many other municipal police
agencies, including several in the Richmond area.

In Chesterfield County, for example, police last fall changed the DUI
standard that would allow candidates to have a drunken driving conviction
if it occurred more than eight years before they applied. The department
still disqualifies candidates who have used hard drugs even once, said John
McLenagan, the department's personnel director.

Marijuana use is treated differently.

Prospective officers in Chesterfield cannot have used it within the past
three years to be considered for employment. If a candidate used marijuana
three or more years ago, "we look at the level of usage," McLenagan said.
"There's a graduated scale."

He added, "I think there's a little bit of forgiveness there."

In Richmond, applicants can be considered if they've had a DUI conviction
older than six years. In addition, candidates aren't automatically
disqualified if they used marijuana more than two years ago, or harder
drugs such as heroin or cocaine more than four years ago, said Richmond
police spokeswoman Jennifer Reilly.

Henrico County police have the area's toughest standards. Applicants are
automatically disqualified if they've ever been convicted of a DUI-related
offense or used a Schedule I, II or III controlled substance, said police
spokesman Tom Shumate.

For marijuana use, applicants are disqualified if they've used the drug
more than five times total or had any use two years before applying,
Shumate said.

Martin said the change in the state police's hiring policy has nothing to
do with the department's personnel shortfall or concerns about retaining
newly trained recruits. The department is about 200 positions short of its
authorized staffing level.

"We've always had a list of automatic disqualifiers, not only for our sworn
people but for our non-sworn people," Martin said. "But we're constantly
looking at these automatic disqualifiers to see if they are the right way
for us to be considering people."