Kelly: New Cop Drug-Testing Is Hair to Stay

By REUVEN BLAU

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Nov. 14 that the department's new drug-testing procedure will not be hair today, gone tomorrow.

According to Mr. Kelly, the NYPD switched from urine drug-tests to hair exams based on expert recommendations. "We are governed by the scientific community and our Medical Division," he remarked after a press conference. "Their belief is that this is the most effective way to do this test."

Unions Question Value

The NYPD has revealed that the hair drug-test screening has netted limited results so far, leading the police unions to renew their call to scrap the costly and invasive screenings in favor of the traditional urine exam.

The unions have filed grievances charging that the issue is a mandatory subject of collective bargaining. They have also contended that the hair test is unfairly invasive, as some of their members without hair on their heads have had their legs cut by allegedly unsanitary razors. The matter is currently before the Office of Collective Bargaining.

According to the Police Department, only seven officers failed hair drug-tests from Jan. 1 through July 31. That was a slight increase from the four officers whose urine tested positive for illegal substances over that same period in 2005.

The change to hair-testing makes it harder for officers to cheat than with the urine-based tests. The hair test doesn't require as much privacy as a urine screening, so there is no chance for workers to substitute someone else's sample for their own or slip in a fake substance.

Asked if he was anticipating more positives under the new test, Mr. Kelly responded, "We don't expect anything. We don't expect people to use drugs."