Pubdate: Tue, 19 Feb 2008
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2008 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Jo Napolitano, Tribune reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States)

CICERO POLICE COMMANDER PASSES WRONG DRUG TEST

Hair-Follicle Test, Not Urine Test, Should Have Been Taken, Town Official Says

The long-awaited drug-test results of Cicero police Cmdr. Wesley
Scott, cited in Chicago with misdemeanor possession, revealed he
passed, but took the wrong test--something town officials can't explain.

As a commander, Scott should have taken a hair-follicle test, which
registers drugs in the system for 90 to 180 days. Instead, he took a
urine test, with less of a shelf life. Under the town's zero-tolerance
policy, Scott could have lost his job for testing positive.

"That was not the test that he should have taken," said town spokesman
Dan Proft, who said Scott is "going to be required to submit to a
follicle test." Asked when that test would take place, Proft said no
date has been scheduled.

Scott was pulled over Jan. 27 on Chicago's South Side for running a
stop sign, authorities said. Chicago police said they found a burned
marijuana cigarette inside his car as well as 4.6 grams of the drug in
a plastic bag on top of the console. Shortly after, he took three days
off.

Town officials then said he took a hair-follicle test, and they
promised to release the results soon. The town didn't announce any
results until Friday, when they said Scott had taken the urine test,
not the follicle test.

Scott declined to comment. He is on paid administrative leave from his
$80,000-a-year job.

Proft said that he talked to Scott on Monday and that the commander
agreed to take the follicle test, though he "did not want his rights
trampled."

When asked to explain how Police Chief Anthony Iniquez allowed Scott
to take a urine test instead of a follicle test, Proft offered two
different explanations on Monday.

First he said that Town President Larry Dominick told Iniquez in a
memo shortly after Scott's arrest that Scott must submit to a
hair-follicle drug test. Proft later said there was no memo from
Dominick. Instead, he said Iniquez sent a memo to Scott, telling him
he must submit to a "drug test," but which one wasn't specified.

Scott, Iniquez and Dominick are longtime friends, according to Proft,
adding that their relationship will not affect the outcome of the
investigation.

Iniquez did not return calls on Monday.

Proft said the mistake over the drug test could have happened in
confusion about a request Scott made for a demotion.

The day before his scheduled test, Scott submitted a letter of
resignation that would have demoted him to patrolman. He then would
have fallen under union protection, which calls for only a urine test.
Police commanders do not have that protection.

Proft said it was possible Iniquez was treating Scott as a patrolman
rather than a commander, even though town officials did not grant
Scott's demotion requ 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake