After a recent rash of DUI incidents involving Los Angeles Police Department Officers in DUI crashes and incidents over the last three years, Police Commissioners have now instituted a new regulation limiting the alcohol they consume even when off-duty.
Vice.com reports that the new regulation will expressly limit the consumption of alcohol any time an officer is off-duty and carrying their service weapon.
The LAPD did not specify why this new regulation targeted officers who were off duty; however, according to minutes taken at a virtual meeting on Tuesday, January 10th, the maximum blood-alcohol level for officers even when off-duty is .04 percent. This BAC level is the same threshold required of most long-haul truck drivers across the country.
The LAPD also indicated that off-duty officers could be subject to testing to determine impairment. So far, the department has declined to specify what penalties officers would face if they violated the new policy but did say that internal investigations surrounding violating the new policy could result in termination
“Department personnel are conspicuous representatives of government, whose contact is closely scrutinized,” Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore stated in an internal memo. “An employee’s good judgment and physical skill in handling a firearm can sometimes be greatly diminished by intoxication, which can jeopardize public safety as well as the safety of our employees and their loved ones.”
