Springfield Police Chief Don Kliment has
quietly beefed up drug enforcement both inside and outside the
department. Not only has he doubled the manpower of SPD’s
narcotics unit, he has also instituted a random drug testing
procedure for current officers, causing cops to be subjected for
the first time ever to the surprise call to submit a urine sample.
Previously, patrol officers could be tested
for drugs or alcohol only “for just cause.” The new
testing plan was negotiated with the Policemen’s Benevolent
and Protective Agency Unit 5, the union representing patrol
officers, and written into their current contract.
“We decided to invoke it about six times
a year, with about eight officers at a time,” Kliment says.
The first random tests, involving eight officers,
were conducted in December; a second batch of eight officers was tested
earlier this month. So far, “all clean,” Kliment says.
Officers are selected by a computer program
run by the testing company ChoicePoint. The computer produces a
list of 20 names, and sends it to Pat Fogleman, the deputy chief.
Fogleman starts at either the top or bottom of the list (he
switches each time), and begins contacting the first eight officers
working. The chosen eight receive hand-delivered notices that they’ve
been selected through a “random lottery process.” Their
prize: an order to report to the testing facility and rendezvous in a
bathroom with a specimen bottle.
The notice states that refusal to submit to
testing makes the officer “subject to discipline,” but
so far, no one has refused, Fogleman says.
Meanwhile, Kliment has also strengthened his
department’s efforts to fight drugs in the community. He has
added more officers to the narcotics unit, which was a target of
criticism during the 2003 city elections. Soon after Mayor Tim
Davlin took office, then-chief John Harris increased the manpower
from two officers to four plus a sergeant. Last month, Kliment
added a second sergeant and two more officers, bringing the unit up
to seven officers.
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2005.
