Mayor Lo Walker: Zero Tolerance Alcohol Policy Stands

Bossier City Mayor Lorenz Walker has revisited the city's policy on alcohol testing for city employees, and has decided to maintain zero tolerance.

The mayor altered the policy last week to prohibit blood alcohol concentration of city employees while on the job at .04% or higher, after an employee accidentally damaged a tarp arm on a city dump truck while cleaning it. The employee had a blood alcohol level of .007%.

At the April 5 city council meeting, the mayor said it was unfair to terminate the employee for having such a minimal amount of alcohol in his system. But a news release says that after much consideration and consulting with his staff, Mayor Walker has decided to keep the city's zero tolerance policy in place.

City employees are prohibited from having any amount of alcohol in their systems while on the job, which means the employee from last week's incident has been fired.

The news release also states the following:

Contrary to some news media reports, the mayor at no time changed the city’s long standing policy that prohibits city employees from drinking alcohol while on the job, in city vehicles or in vehicles used for city business.