Summary

Drug testing has become an increasingly important part of the public sector workplace. For law enforcement officers, courts have granted government employers wide discretion in choosing a drug testing strategy. Brunet seeks to understand what leads one law enforcement agency to adopt a more rigorous testing program while another abstains from testing workers altogether. An emerging literature on drug testing as a mechanism of social control provides the theoretical base. An analysis of a sample of law enforcement agencies finds evidence that social distance within police organizations, the social status of officers, and the influence of third parties play significant roles in shaping a departments drug testing policy.