All S.D. Officers Will Be Drug-Tested : Narcotics: Implementation of ’91 agreement between the city and police and firefighters will result in testing twice a year.

After more than a year’s delay, San Diego has become one of the few cities in the country in which all police officers and firefighters will be tested for drugs.

Starting last week, all 2,700 San Diego police officers and firefighters became subject to mandatory drug testing twice a year, an agreement that unions for both departments approved in May, 1991.

Because the testing program is expensive--$153,000 this year--city officials held off on approving it until July 6, the first Monday of the new fiscal year.

“Drug testing is a high priority for us,” City Manager Jack McGrory said Monday. “It’s important that the testing be done for critical public safety jobs. The community has a right to expect its Police Department and Fire Department to be free from drugs. This is one more tool we have to achieve that goal.”

Recent court decisions have upheld the right of governments to examine their employees for drugs despite arguments by workers that their constitutional rights are violated during the tests.

Nevertheless, few cities in the country force such tests on officers and firefighters. Critics say police administrators should not require random drug testing unless they suspect a problem.

In many police agencies, such as the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, officers are tested when there is reason to believe they have taken drugs. In other departments, only those in sensitive job assignments, such as those who handle narcotics, are routinely tested.

San Diego police enacted drug testing in September, 1990, only for those who worked in criminal intelligence, gangs, internal affairs, the narcotics street team, the narcotics task force and the vice squad. All top administrators, including the police chief, were also tested. At that time, about 140 officials were being examined.

The program was extended to the entire department as part of an overall program by Chief Bob Burgreen to prevent the possibility of police corruption, particularly among those who must handle narcotics.

Under the system, all officers and firefighters are to be tested twice within an 18-month period. Names are chosen randomly by computer.

Each officer is to be notified of the test four hours before his or her shift begins. Lab technicians will take two urine samples, one for the officer and one for the department, which will send its sample to a nationally recognized testing lab.

If the officer tests positive for drugs, he or she can have the other sample tested to challenge the department’s findings.

Police officers and firefighters cannot have barbiturates, methamphetamines, cocaine, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs in their systems. Police policy stipulates that an officer who abuses prescription drugs faces possible disciplinary action. An officer who abuses illegal drugs could be fired.

McGrory said that despite the high cost of testing officers and firefighters, especially in light of a $25-million budget deficit, the City Council and administration believe drug testing is a top priority. The City Council approved the wide-ranging testing program in February.

“This is our public policy statement,” he said. “We are living in a society filled with problems related to drug use and our officers are exposed to drugs on a daily basis. One way for us to maintain a drug-free department is to test for drugs.”

Norman Stamper, the Police Department’s executive assistant chief, said he knows of no officer who has tested positive for drugs since the program began.