ROOKIE police officers will be randomly tested for drugs and alcohol in a bid to root out addicts and heavy drinkers before they can cause harm.
Scotland's biggest force, Strathclyde, will carry out compulsory testing on all new recruits, and random tests during their first two years on the job. Anyone who fails will be automatically dismissed.
But the force has stopped short of imposing t
ests on all 7,000 police following stiff resistance from the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers.
The scheme, which has been approved by force chiefs, will involve a private firm doing tests on hair samples from all recruits and random urine samples from probationers.
The tests are intended to kill off any last remnants of the once-thriving culture of "boozing coppers" portrayed in television shows such as The Sweeney and Ashes To Ashes.
The plan now has to be approved by the force's ruling police board.
Chairman Paul Rooney said: "The public rightly expect police officers more than anyone to uphold the law. Random drug testing is a means of ensuring officers are not engaging in this illegal activity."
Until now the force has only tested officers already suspected of being under the influence of illegal drugs.
The Army and several other bodies, including train companies and airlines, have enforced random testing regimes for illegal drugs on all staff.
Scores of soldiers and officers have been drummed out in the past few years for abusing hard and soft drugs.
Other Scottish forces are also rolling out policies on random drug and alcohol tests over the next few months after the Association of Chief Police Officers issued guidance on the issue earlier this year. Grampian introduced blanket drug testing of all its officers more than a decade ago under controversial chief constable Ian Oliver, who went on to propose that all parliamentarians should have their urine checked too.
The north-east force has so far tested more than 300 officers, but none has proved positive for illegal substances.
Most Scottish police forces, however, look set to shy away from such blanket testing of all officers.
A spokesman for the federation yesterday warned against any further expansion of testing to include Strathclyde officers who had already seen out their probationary period.
He said: "We don't see any requirement for an extension of random drug tests beyond probationers."
At least one Strathclyde officer, believed to have been from Ayrshire, has been caught out by a test in recent years after tip-offs that she was keeping "bad company".
Strathclyde, like other forces, is currently recruiting heavily. It will take on more than 900 trainees this year alone.
After approval by the force's board, each new recruit will have a hair taken for detailed study during their routine fitness test.
Hair retains toxins from many drugs far longer than urine does.
Recruits and probationers do not enjoy normal employee rights. They can be dismissed, without any being reason given, at the discretion of the chief constable. Those who are found to have taken drugs – or to be over the drink driving alcohol limit during office hours – are very unlikely to be retained.
Some academics have argued that random urine tests can encourage drug abusers to graduate from cannabis to harder substances because cannabis stays in the system longer than, say, cocaine or heroin.
Many politicians, however, have come round to the view that officers must be whiter than white.
Bill Aitken, the Conservative justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, said: "This, I am afraid, is a sign of the times. While it's regrettable, I think Strathclyde have no choice."
Strathclyde's new recruits – and officers transferring from other forces – are also set to undergo new and sophisticated attitude tests to ensure they don't hold any racist beliefs or prejudices.
The full article contains 640 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
