NYPD officer had tested positive for alcohol use after top cop says he took ‘appropriate and courageous police action’
Related article: Off-duty NY cop fails alcohol test after shooting
By Michael Frazier
Newsday
NEW YORK — An off-duty New York police detective stripped of his gun after testing positive for alcohol use in a shoot-out Sunday has returned to full duty, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday.
Det. Ivan Davison, a 15-year veteran, became the first officer to violate the department’s required sobriety tests given to officers who fire their weapons. The mandatory alcohol screening was adopted last year after the controversial police shooting of Sean Bell.
Kelly said he was certain there would be “cases where officers might test positive for alcohol use, and also be found to have taken appropriate police action.”
“This is the first such case,” he said.
Davison had been placed on modified assignment since the shooting in Jamaica. He was off duty and had been partying at a nightclub with friends when he happened upon a group of men fighting.
Davison, who identified himself as an officer, tried to break up the fight, but one of the men, Stephon Allston, 22, of Far Rockaway, pulled out a machine gun and opened fire, police said.
Davison returned fire, striking Allston in the leg and arm. Allston was later arrested and charged with attempted murder.
The officer’s attorney, Philip Karasyk, said it was the first time his client fired his weapon while taking action as a police officer.
The required alcohol testing have received criticism from police unions since it was adopted. In October, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association filed a federal lawsuit. The suit, which is pending, claims the rule violates officers’ Fourth Amendment rights.
In addition to the breath analyzer test, Davison also had his blood drawn for screening, Karasyk said.
Department officials declined to release Davison’s blood-alcohol content. The Associated Press reported he tested .09, above the legal limit of .08. Kelly said the shooting was within department guidelines.
Davison “took appropriate and courageous police action to end an imminent threat of death or serious injury to himself and others,” Kelly said. “He demonstrated what many have come to expect of New York City police officers, on duty or off; that is selfless dedication to duty.”
Copyright 2008 Newsday