Police Union Agrees to Random Drug Testing

As expected, City Council approved the contentious new agreement with the Portland Police Association today. For months, the city and police union battled about whether the talks would be public and then, once they did get down to the negotiating, raises, overtime costs, civilian oversight of the bureau, and drug testing.

Well, today's agreement (download bullet point version) has some compromises and is expected to cost the city at least $5 million over the next three years. The cops won a two percent pay raise starting in July 2011 and bonuses for completing an annual fitness test and having a college degree.

But the big win for the city is this:

Random drug testing, so we can be sure that officers aren't hopped up on steroids or anything else. In another important move, the new deal also allows the bureau to suspend an officer's authority if there's an investigation going on into their behavior. Whether they'll actually USE that authority... well, that's a fight for another day.

More reporting on the police union negotiations here, here and here.

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]