Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta
Announces Creation of Workgroup to Review
Department Substance Policy

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today announced that he will create an internal workgroup to review the Fire Department’s regulations and penalties regarding the use of alcohol and drugs. The workgroup, led by the Chief of Operations Salvatore Cassano, will be charged with analyzing current policies as they relate to on and off-duty use of alcohol and determine what changes should be made to the current set of regulations and penalty structure.

“I’ve ordered this review to make certain our rules and regulations with respect to alcohol use are consistent and unambiguous,” said Commissioner Scoppetta. “I also want to take a hard look at the current penalties for violating these policies, to make certain we’re doing everything we should to discourage alcohol abuse, both on and off-duty.”

In 2002, Commissioner Scoppetta instituted a zero-tolerance policy for drug use and he recently announced plans for random drug testing of on-duty members.

Contact: Francis X. Gribbon / Viriginia Lam (FDNY) (718) 999-2056

http://www.nyc.gov/fdny