Panel Refuses to Ease LAPD Hiring Policy for Ex-Drug Users

Rejecting the recommendations of the Personnel Department, the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission voted Friday not to allow people who have experimented with hard drugs such as cocaine, LSD, PCP and methamphetamines to become police officers.

Mayor Richard Riordan had opposed the Personnel Department’s recommendation, writing to the commission that the LAPD “is only as good as the men and women who wear the badge.”

The Personnel Department report had said that “a zero tolerance standard is virtually impossible to maintain in today’s environment,” and suggested using a polygraph exam to make sure applicants were not lying about their past drug use.

City staff recommended that candidates who had been clean for more than a decade but had used LSD or PCP once and cocaine or meth twice would still be allowed to apply.