Law Enforcement Drug Screening Guidelines

These guidelines developed by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) are to be used by agencies to conduct the pre-employment drug screening that should be a component of their comprehensive substance abuse programs. The guidelines are designed to help law enforcement agencies implement legally defensible and cost-efficient programs. A brief discussion of legal issues concerning drug screening of prospective employees covers the relevant court decisions and Federal guidelines contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The section on technical issues discusses some of the important program considerations regarding specimen collection, analytical methodologies, substances to be tested, and laboratories. The section on procedural issues addresses the logistics of moving applicants through the drug screening process in a secure and efficient way and examines issues including collection site security, chain of custody, and personal privacy. National Institute on Drug Abuse specimen collection guidelines are outlined, current California law enforcement policies are described, and recommendations from the model testing policy of the International Association of Chiefs of Police are provided. Supporting documents are contained in the appendixes.

"As a result of the Government of Canada commitment to legalize and restrict access to cannabis as well as increased concerns over road safety due to drug-impaired driving, Public Safety Canada and the RCMP, in collaboration with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, undertook a pilot project with law enforcement from across Canada to test the use of oral fluid drug screening devices as tools to enhance the enforcement of drug-impaired driving. The objectives of the pilot were to examine the use of oral fluid drug screening devices in the Canadian climate, within applicable Canadian law enforcement practices, to develop and inform law enforcement training guidelines and standard operating procedures for device use, and to identify possible elements for inclusion as standards for the devices. In a previous study, "An assessment of oral fluid drug screening devices", the devices were deemed reliable in their ability to detect the identified drugs. Therefore, the reliability was not re-examined as part of the objectives of this pilot. This report contains further information on the methodology and results of the pilot project, as well as a summary of the recommendations for device standards, standard operating procedures and training guidelines. This report was developed in consultation with seven police jurisdictions: Vancouver Police Department, Halifax Regional Police Service, Toronto Police Service, Gatineau Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, North Battleford RCMP, and Yellowknife RCMP"--Executive summary, p. 3, 4.

"The growing pressures in society and government for drug testing programs and the intrusiveness of both testing procedures and their results on personal privacy led the Privacy Commissioner to undertake a review of federal government drug testing policy and practice. While there is no doubt that drug testing infringes personal privacy in a profound sense, one must not be blind to the need to protect the public interest. R.I.D.E. programs, for example, are seen as justifiable intrusions on private rights to safeguard the public good, even in light of the Charter of Rights. The recommendations contained in this report are offered as a contribution to the ongoing debate and a guide to government. The development of drug testing policies and practices which respect the requirements of the Privacy Act and which keep in appropriate balance public and private rights will be a unique anddifficult challenge"--Introduction, p.2.

The manual provides practical assistance to law enforcement agencies and forensic laboratories. It contains general guidelines for law enforcement officers on sampling a suspect material; an outline on the execution of various field testing methods; guidelines for the interpretation of the results; and characteristics for precursors and essential chemicals. The manual also outlines a suggested training programme for chemical field testing to assist law enforcement agencies in developing their training programmes.