Pubdate: Wed, 12 Mar 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 CICERO POLICE COMMANDER'S DRUG CHARGES MAY BE DROPPED Cicero police commander's drug charges may be dropped Cook County state's attorney's official says it's possible once drug program is completed Charges of misdemeanor marijuana possession against a Cicero police commander could be dropped if he completes the drug-diversion program he entered last month, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office said Wednesday. Wesley Scott, 47, was stopped Jan. 27 in Chicago for allegedly running a stop sign, and police said they found a burned marijuana cigarette in the car as well as 4.6 grams of the drug on top of the console. Scott entered the drug-diversion program, commonly called drug school, Feb. 20, spokesman Andy Conklin said. Scott is to complete the program by May 20, when he is scheduled to appear in court. Conklin said the charges against Scott will be dropped if he completes the program. After the arrest, Cicero put Scott on paid leave from his $80,000 post and began an internal investigation that required him to undergo a drug test. Under the town's new zero-tolerance drug policy, Scott could lose his job if he fails the test, officials said. Scott asked to resign from his commander's post and be demoted to the position of patrolman the day before he took the drug test. Patrol officers are protected by the union and can only be required to undergo urine screenings instead of a hair-follicle test, which will detect drug use for a longer period. An officer might get a five-day unpaid suspension for a first minor drug offense, while a commander could be fired, officials said. The town did not act on Scott's demotion request pending the results of the investigation. But when town spokesman Dan Proft announced Scott had passed the Feb. 1 drug screening, he also said Scott mistakenly had taken a urine test instead of the hair-follicle test the town had intended. An investigation into how Scott came to take the wrong test is under way, Proft said. Scott took the hair follicle test Feb. 19, the day before he entered the diversion program. The results came back late last month, but town officials have declined to make them public, saying they could jeopardize Scott's drug-possession case. They wanted to wait until that case was adjudicated. But the state's attorney's office disagrees. Conklin said Wednesday that the urine and hair-follicle tests are not relevant to the criminal court proceedings because they were done before Scott entered the diversion program. Told of Conklin's statements Wednesday, Proft said the town still would not release the drug-test results because of the ongoing internal investigation. "The release of the drug-test results in question also factors into this administrative process to which Wesley is subject, and that has not been concluded," Proft said. He said Scott deserves due process "so as the town does not incur civil liability." Scott, a 21-year veteran of the force, was the first African-American police officer hired in Cicero. He remains on paid administrative leave. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek