Police employees have the same rights and privileges that any civilian would have regarding intoxicant testing. When Team investigators determine that a police employee’s state of sobriety is relevant to the investigation, they have these options:
1.
Obtain the blood and/or urine sample by valid consent.
2.
Obtain the blood and/or urine sample incidental to valid arrest.
3.
Obtain a search warrant.
4.
If an arrestee refused to comply with the request for a sample, attempts will be made to obtain the sample in accordance with case law.
b.
Administrative Investigation.
1.
Intoxicant test results obtained by Team investigators are available to the Administrative Investigators.
2.
In the event the Team does not obtain samples for intoxicant testing, the Employer Agency may then seek to obtain samples. However, the Team investigators have the first opportunity.
a.
Authority for the Employer Agency to obtain samples includes (1) valid consent, and (2) ordering the employee to provide the samples based on the employment relationship.
b.
Some departments have blanket orders regarding employee intoxicant testing while other departments make decisions on a case-by-case basis.
3.
Blood is the best fluid for alcohol testing, while urine is best for drug screening. Optimally, samples of both should be obtained for the most complete results.