Full time police officers/staff subject to random drug testing from 2019 to 2023
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035273
I note you seek access to the following information:
1. The numbers of full-time serving police officers and staff members of the Metropolitan Police Force that have been subject to random drug testing in the past 5 years (2019 through to 2023 inclusive) (calendar year).
2. The number of positive results associated with the tests at question 1 above broken out by year.
3. The drugs associated with the positive results.
4. Do the Metropolitan Police Force test for legal highs (whether it is 'with cause', 'with cause - extended testing' or random drug testing), such as stimulants, sedatives, psychedelics etc that affect performance?
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
Q1 - The numbers of full-time serving police officers and staff members of the Metropolitan Police Force that have been subject to random drug testing in the past 5 years (2019 through to 2023 inclusive) (calendar year).
| Calendar Year Total | ||||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Running Total | 170 | 105 | 122 | 161 | 579 | 1188 |
| Positive Tests | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| % Positive | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
Q2 - The number of positive results associated with the tests at question 1 above broken out by year.
As per the table above
Q3 - The drugs associated with the positive results.
We don’t keep a record of which drug the test was positive for but we test for the following; Opiates, Cocaine, Cannabis, Benzodiazepines, Amphetamines therefore any positive test would have been for one of these.
Q4 - Do the Metropolitan Police Force test for legal highs (whether it is 'with cause', 'with cause - extended testing' or random drug testing), such as stimulants, sedatives, psychedelics etc that affect performance?
The MPS do not conduct ‘with cause’ testing and I have never heard of ‘with cause - extended testing’
The MPS directs that police officers and police staff must not use or possess androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS) including designer steroids, prohormones and designer prohormones. As stated above the random tests my team conduct are for; Opiates, Cocaine, Cannabis, Benzodiazepines, Amphetamines and I do know that on the with cause side they also test for Opiates, Cocaine, Cannabis, Benzodiazepines, Amphetamines and additionally anabolic steroids which can affect performance.