SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif- Earlier this month a San Luis Obispo cop was busted by the FBI. He was arrested for theft and for the sale of fake drugs. At the time we learned the San Luis Obispo Police Department nor the SLO County Sheriff's Office drug tested their officers. We also found out that most law enforcement agencies don't drug test.
Since this incident the Sheriff's Office has come up with a draft proposal for a drug testing policy for all its employees. Officer Cory Pierce is accused of getting into evidence at both the SLO Police Department as well as the Sheriff's Office. Since then the Sheriff' Office has ordered new evidence lockers that are more secure and limit the number of people who have access to them.
The Sheriff is also working on a policy for drug testing the whole department, but this task could be challenging. "You have hipaa laws that safe guard employees medical conditions so we have to be careful not to overstep our boundaries in regards to that and to make sure that these random drug tests, can be implemented fairly, safely, and without over stepping those boundaries," said Tony Cipolla, the Sheriff's spokesperson.
Fortunately the Sheriff's Office has its own lab so costs will be low. As for San Luis Obispo Police, it has been working on a drug testing policy for the last year. In April it will have a policy in place to test employees who are suspected of using drugs. It also said it will have a drug testing policy for its narcotics unit in the coming months.
