NO ESCAPING DRUG TESTS, EVEN FOR TOP PROSECUTOR

Leaders often say they like to lead by example.

Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto recently put that ideal to the
test by volunteering to be the first person in his office tested for
illegal drugs under a policy he issued in December.

All police officers, sheriff's deputies and investigators in the
prosecutor's offices in both Mercer and Burlington counties are now
required to undergo random drug testing.

In Mercer, even prosecutors are subject to the tests, which is not the case
in Burlington. If an officer is detected using drugs, he or she will be
fired and barred from working in law enforcement in New Jersey. But the
names of those fired will not be released.

"I thought it was important that if the tests were mandated for the
detectives of this office and the police officers of this county, I'd also
mandate them for the prosecutors of this office," Giaquinto said.

Mercer County police departments were ordered to have policies and
procedures for the tests in place by March 1 so testing could begin two
months later. So far, Trenton, Princeton Township, Lawrence, West Windsor
and East Windsor have conducted tests, Giaquinto said.

IN BURLINGTON, the policy was announced in February and was to go into
effect July 1, according to county Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi. But not
all towns have developed testing procedures and some are still reviewing
the policy wording.

No officers in Burlington have been tested yet, and because of the late
start, only one test will be required this year, Bernardi said.

William Kearns, the municipal attorney for some Burlington County towns,
including Willingboro, said he expects the municipalities will all agree to
drug-testing procedures this summer.

"I think everyone is in agreement that drug testing is appropriate and that
someone who is using drugs shouldn't be there as a law enforcement
officer," he said. The debate, he said, focuses on the process and fairness
of the tests.

The policy issued by the prosecutor, he said, does not clearly establish a
hearing process for officers who might test positive and provide for a
review of the test itself.

"We want to make sure when we adopt the policy that we're not opening up
other legal issues," Kearns added. Once fully operational, 30 percent of
each police department in Mercer and 20 percent of the departments in
Burlington must be tested each year. Two tests must be done each year, but
departments can conduct more, and test more officers than required. "If
every officer believes 20 to 30 percent are subject to giving a sample any
given day -- that should have a deterrent effect we're looking for,"
Giaquinto said.

Giaquinto, who is a judge advocate, or lawyer, in the Army National Guard,
said he developed his idea from similar testing programs used in the military.

"I'M CONVINCED that a random drug-testing program is a very effective
deterrent to illegal drug use."

Both prosecutors said they decided to use drug testing not as a reaction to
drug abuse by police officers but to prevent such problems.

"I think the rationale is that you want to ensure that police officers who
are carrying weapons are not under the influence of drugs (that might
impair) their judgment," Bernardi said.

But Giaquinto did say that if testing had been in place earlier, it may
have caught officers who were found using illegal drugs.

The prosecutors developed their testing policies in accordance with
guidelines handed down by the state attorney general's office in 1998.

The chiefs of each department are responsible for deciding when the tests
will be done, and the dates will be tightly guarded secrets, prosecutors said.

The officers will give their samples in private unless officials suspect
some deception, Bernardi said. The samples will be analyzed by the state
police laboratory. If an officer chooses, he or she can request that the
sample be divided. If the first specimen tests positive for illegal drugs,
he or she can have the other sample, which would be secured in each
department, analyzed by another lab picked by the officer, as long as the
facility is certified to conduct drug tests.

The tests cost about $20 each, and the Mercer Prosecutor's Office will use
forfeiture money to fund the process for the first two years, Giaquinto
said. If a department wants to test more than 30 percent of its officers,
it would have to cover that cost on its own.

IN BURLINGTON, the prosecutor's office will use similar funds to pay for
the test, but only for this year. Giaquinto said there is a "very good
possibility" he will require more tests in the prosecutor's office.

The Trenton Police Department will also likely test more than the required
30 percent, according to department spokesman Sgt. John Schroeder.

In Trenton, each officer has an identifier that can be randomly picked out
of a bowl during a lottery observed by union and administration officials,
Schroeder said. "We've had no problems and no positive results," he added.

All officers who tests positive will be reported to the prosecutors, but
the office will disclose only the number of officers, if any, that test
positive, not their names.

No officer screened so far in Mercer has tested positive, Giaquinto said.

The name of a fired officer, he said, would be entered into a central
registry operated by the state police, which will prevent the officer from
being rehired in New Jersey.

Criminal charges could not be filed against any officer who tests positive,
Bernardi said, because the samples are collected without search warrants.
If a warrant was procured and an officer tested positive, he or she could
be charged with a crime. Though the public won't know which officers, if
any, test positive, Giaquinto said firing is an adequate deterrent.