Random testing, public employee, policy and procedure, urine sample, search and seizure, privacy.

The commissioner of the Boston Police Department issued Departmental petitions for administrative review of a lower court's ruling concerning the department's drug-testing policy. An police officer challenged the policy's provision for random testing. The officer argued the policy violated rights protected by the state's constitution.

A superior court judge ruled that the policy's provision for random testing did not violate individual rights. A petition for administrative review is filed.

The Boston Police Department loses. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, with three justices dissenting, reversed the lower court's decision. The supreme court declared the policy violated the state's constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.