The Washington Post
September 5, 1987, Saturday, Final Edition
4 Fairfax Dispatchers Quit;
Probe Finds Allegations of Off-Duty Drug Use
BYLINE: Patricia Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer
SECTION: METRO; PAGE B5
LENGTH: 360 words
Four Fairfax County 911 dispatchers and call-takers resigned
after an internal police department investigation produced allegations that
they had used illegal drugs while off duty, county police said yesterday. The
three-month investigation by the police internal affairs section, described as
"exhaustive," was begun after information was received from sources
outside the police department, spokesman Warren Carmichael said. The civilian
dispatchers -- who were not identified -- are alleged to have used
"amphetamines and other" drugs while off duty, Carmichael said.
"The bottom line is there was absolutely no use of any
drugs by any of these people while on duty," said Carmichael.
"Service to the public was not affected in any way." Police
department employes are prohibited from using illegal drugs either on or off
duty. He said the former dispatchers and call-takers, who worked at the
county's Emergency Operations Center, resigned in June and July and have not
been charged with a criminal offense.Carmichael confirmed the resignations
after the department was questioned by a television reporter. Personnel matters
are not ordinarily made public.Carmichael said "nothing in their
performance on duty would have aroused suspicion" of any illegal drug use
on the part of the employes. He said there was no evidence of any drug use
among other dispatchers at the center.The county has about 100 civilian
dispatchers and call-takers who field police and fire emergency and
nonemergency calls over the 911 line, he said.The county had problems when it
switched to a new computer-aided dispatch system in June at the communications
center, currently at the county's new Pine Ridge Facility. There were
complaints of delays in answering 911 calls and rerouting them to the proper
dispatcher.Officials attributed the problems to defects in the software and the
difficulty of learning a new system. They said dispatchers were initially
working double duty by monitoring the old system to check the performance of the
new.Carmichael emphasized that the drug use by the employes was not related to
performance at the new center.