Judge: NYPD cops may be tested after shootings

A federal judge Thursday rejected a challenge by police unions to the mandatory breath test requirement adopted by the NYPD in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting in 2006.

U.S. District Judge George Daniels said the rule requiring officers involved in shootings that cause death or injury to submit to an alcohol test was not an unwarranted invasion of privacy, and the NYPD "has a substantial and practical interest in ensuring that its officers, especially its armed officers, are fit for duty."

He also said the testing "fosters public confidence" and "eliminates speculation of wrongdoing," and does not represent an "unreasonably traumatic intrusion" after a shooting.

Bell was killed in a hail of bullets outside a Queens nightclub by an undercover NYPD team that had been investigating prostitution.