‘Make drug tests for law enforcers mandatory’

Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Deleon Guerrero strongly recommended to the Legislature to pass a bill that will make drug testing for law enforcers mandatory.

In a news briefing on Friday, Deleon Guerrero said that making drug testing mandatory will ensure that there will be funding for this program.

“If it’s not mandated then how do we ensure compliance?” the commissioner asked.

In past years, it’s always been random drug testing, it was not required, and nobody was doing the testing.

“That’s why we keep telling [lawmakers], ‘Make it mandatory,’” Deleon Guerrero said.

Deleon Guerrero’s call for mandatory drug testing was in response to Sen. Paul A. Manglona’s letter to him dated Feb. 27, 2014. He said he got a copy of the letter from Saipan Tribune.

In the letter, Manglona urged the commissioner to fully implement mandatory drug testing on all DPS personnel as soon as possible.

At a minimum, Manglona said, a random drug test must be conducted every three months.

The senator said Deleon Guerrero has the authority to compel an officer to take a drug test if he has reasonable suspicion that the officer is under the influence of drugs based on articulated facts such as behavior, time and attendance, performance of duties, etc.

Manglona said that “ice” has been wreaking havoc on the lives of the people in the CNMI and its effects are not limited to ordinary residents but also law enforcement officers.

“Though we do not want to rely on hearsay, we hear in the community that more officers are meddling with illegal drugs,” the senator said. “We must not remain complacent any longer. It is high time to do something.”

Manglona commended the Commonwealth Ports Authority’s board for recently requiring a mandatory drug test on all their personnel. He also praised the Board of Education after the Public School System recently conducted a random drug testing among their employees as part of their annual policy.

Deleon Guerrero said he agrees in large part with the senator’s letter. He said DPS has to take a much more active role in ensuring public trust in the department.

“First and foremost, we have not been complacent,” he stressed.

Deleon Guerrero said internally within DPS, there are a number of steps that are occurring. He said when somebody gets fired, it is not their policy to call the media to say that they just released a personnel from the department.

Deleon Guerrero said the reality of the situation is, if there is any allegation of any drug use on the part of department employees, an immediate investigation is performed by internal affairs investigators.

“We have been performing a lot of in-house cleaning in this department. We have gotten rid of probably more employees in this department from drug and other violations than any other government agencies in the entire CNMI government,” he said.

He disclosed that over the next several weeks, they will be releasing several more employees, some of them implicated in drug investigations.

Deleon Guerrero said he agrees with Manglona that they have to be vigilant.

But really, he pointed out, drug testing is not the function of DPS but of the Office of Personnel Management.