Pubdate: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY) Copyright: 2000 The Courier-Journal Contact: PO Box 740031, Louisville, Ky., 40201-7431 Fax: (502) 582-4200 Feedback: http://www.courier-journal.com/cjconnect/edletter.htm Website: http://www.courier-journal.com/ Forum: http://www.courier-journal.com/webx/cgi-bin/WebX Author: Camille Diana Barbee, The Courier-Journal DRUG INVESTIGATION SNARES TWO OFFICERS ONE FAILED TEST; OTHER REFUSED ONE Two Louisville police officers are under investigation and their police powers have been suspended after one failed a drug test and the other refused to take one, officials said. Officers George Fertig and James Redmond were assigned to desk jobs in late November, pending the outcome of an internal investigation, said Officer Aaron Graham, a police spokesman. When the investigation ends, the officers could be reinstated, reprimanded, suspended or fired, he said. Fertig tested positive for drug use, Graham said. Neither officer is allowed to carry a weapon or use a police vehicle until the investigation is complete. Graham did not know how long that would take. Louisville police Chief Gene Sherrard said yesterday that the department received information late last year that the officers were allegedly using illegal drugs. However, he said, the investigation doesn't reflect a climate of drug use in the department. "Based on the information . . . there was a reasonable suspicion in our mind that the officers may be using marijuana," Sherrard said. These are "two very isolated incidents." Fertig, a 2nd District officer, is a 19-year veteran of the force. He was reassigned after failing the drug test in November, police said. Redmond, a 5th District officer, has been on the force 15 years. He refused to take a drug test when asked, also in late November. But a few days later he agreed to take the test and passed. His reassignment was based on his refusal to take the first test, police said. Fertig's attorney, Tom Swicegood, wouldn't comment on the allegations because the investigation is pending. He said, however, that "termination will be unnecessary and inappropriate given the circumstances surrounding Officer Fertig's allegations." The investigation comes just months before a new random drug-testing policy takes effect March 1. Officer Rick McCubbin, president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police, said the union and the city agreed that the department should conduct random tests. McCubbin said that doesn't mean widespread drug use is suspected. "I don't expect any officers to fail it," McCubbin said. But "I have to be realistic and have to understand that the men and women of any police department aren't perfect. Everyday stresses can hook anybody." Sherrard, too, said he doesn't believe there will be a problem with officers passing the test. "Police officers are human beings and they are faced with some of the same human weaknesses and frailties as every other human being in every other occupation," he said. Under the program, half of the force's 732 officers will be in a pool to be tested this year and half next year. A computer will randomly select an officer's number, and the officer will have to immediately submit to a drug test. McCubbin said some officers could be chosen several times while others in the same rotation might not be picked at all. If an officer fails the test, he or she will be tested again within days, if not hours, McCubbin said. If the officer fails again, the chief can recommend discipline ranging from counseling to termination. Sherrard said the random tests will serve several purposes: warning officers who are using drugs that they might get caught; deterring drug use; and adding credibility that officers are drug free. "Any concern about drug usage among officers . . . will be minimal," Sherrard said. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk