Case Name: ANCHORAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, and International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1264, Appellants and Cross-Appellees, v. MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE, Appellee and Cross-Appellant
Court: Alaska Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Alaska
Decision Date: 2001-06-15
Citations: 24 P.3d 547
Docket Number: Nos. S-8137, S-8138 and S-8208
Parties: ANCHORAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, and International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1264, Appellants and Cross-Appellees, v. MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE, Appellee and Cross-Appellant.
Judges: Before MATTHEWS, Chief Justice, EASTAUGH, and BRYNER, Justices.
Reporter: Pacific Reporter 3d
Volume: 24
Pages: 547–577

Head Matter:
ANCHORAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, and International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1264, Appellants and Cross-Appellees, v. MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE, Appellee and Cross-Appellant.
Nos. S-8137, S-8138 and S-8208.
Supreme Court of Alaska.
June 15, 2001.
Rehearing Denied July 20, 2001.
William B. Aitchison, Aitchison & Vick, Portland, Oregon, for Appellant/Cross-Ap-pellee Anchorage Police Department Employees Association.
Charles A. Dunnagan and Mike L. Dish-man, Jermain, Dunnagan & Owens, P.C., Anchorage, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1264.
James D. Gilmore and Amy R. Ménard, Gilmore & Doherty, Anchorage, for Appel-lee/Cross-Appellant Municipality of Anchorage.
Before MATTHEWS, Chief Justice, EASTAUGH, and BRYNER, Justices.

Opinion:
OPINION
PER CURIAM.
I,. INTRODUCTION
The superior court found constitutionally valid a policy adopted by the Municipality of Anchorage (Municipality) that subjects police and fire department employees in safety-sensitive positions to suspicionless substance abuse testing in certain situations-upon job application, promotion, demotion, or transfer, and after a traffic accident-and at random. The Anchorage Police Department Employees Association (Police Employees) and the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1264 (Fire Fighters) appeal. We affirm all but one aspect of the superior court's ruling, concluding that the Municipality's at random testing provision violates the Alaska Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
In September 1994 the Municipality adopted Policy No. 40-24 ("the policy"). The policy provides for substance abuse testing, by urinalysis, of certain municipal employees (1) upon employment application, promotion, demotion, or transfer; (2) following a vehieu-lar accident; (8) on reasonable suspicion; and (4) at random. All employees are subject to post-accident testing. Only employees in "public safety positions" are subject to random testing and to promotion/demotion/transfer testing. A public safety position is defined as "a position in the Police or Fire Department having a substantially significant degree of responsibility for the safety of the public where the unsafe performance of an incumbent could result in death or injury to self or others."
Police Employees and Fire Fighters notified the Municipality that they believed that suspicionless testing is unconstitutional. In June 1996 they filed actions for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, arguing that testing without reasonable suspicion (and without a warrant) violates their members' state and federal constitutional rights to privacy and against unreasonable searches and seizures.
On consolidated motions for summary judgment, the superior court determined that the Municipality's policy is constitutional. The superior court declined to award attorney's fees to the Municipality, finding that Police Employees and Fire Fighters were public interest litigants, Police Employees and Fire Fighters appeal the substance of the superior court's decision; the Municipality cross-appeals the denial of attorney's fees and costs.
III. STANDARDS OF REVIEW
We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, drawing all reasonable factual inferences in favor of the non-moving party and affirming the trial court's ruling when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. On questions of law, we are not bound by the lower court's decision and will adopt the rule of law that is "most persuasive in light of precedent, reason, and policy." We review a decision regarding attorney's fees/public-interest-litigant status for abuse of discretion.
IV. DISCUSSION
A. Suspicionless Substance Abuse Testing
Police Employees and Fire Fighters mount their challenge to the Municipality's testing policy along four consti tutional fronts. They contend that the policy violates the right to privacy and the prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures; they press each of these theories under the Alaska and United States Constitutions. The superior court's thorough and thoughtful decision on summary judgment addressed each of these claims but placed primary emphasis on the alleged violations of Alaska's constitutional right to privacy. For the reasons explained below, however, we prefer to resolve the parties' arguments using the analytical framework that governs unlawful searches and seizures; and although we find substantial guidance in cases interpreting the United States Constitution, we limit our decision to the requirements of the Alaska Constitution's search and seizure clause.
Article I, section 14, of the Alaska Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses and other property, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." Article I, section 22, defines Alaska's right to privacy: "The right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed. The legislature shall implement this section."
We have held that both of these provisions afford broader protection than their federal counterparts. Alaska's guaranty of privacy is broader than the protection found in the federal constitution, which contains no express privacy provision:
Since the citizens of Alaska, with their strong emphasis on individual liberty, enacted an amendment to the Alaska Constitution expressly providing for a right to privacy not found in the United States Constitution, it can only be concluded that the right is broader in scope than that of the Federal Constitution.[ ]
And Alaska's search and seizure clause is stronger than the federal protection because article I, section 14 is textually broader than the Fourth Amendment, and the clause draws added strength from Alaska's express guarantee of privacy. Because the Alaska Constitution provides broader protection to Police Employees and Fire Fighters under both constitutional theories that they argue in this appeal, we need only determine whether the Municipality's policy violates the Alaska Constitution's requirements. Thus, we base our ultimate ruling exclusively on the Alaska Constitution.
Moreover, while the parties raise legitimate constitutional concerns under both the privacy and search and seizure clauses of the Alaska Constitution, we think it best to focus our decision on article I, section 14-the search and seizure provision. In prior opinions, this court has emphasized that the primary purpose of both Alaska provisions-section 14's search and seizure protection and section 22's privacy guaranty-is to protect "personal privacy and dignity against unwarranted intrusion by the State, or other governmental officials. Accordingly, in cases involving allegedly invalid searches, we have recognized that the standard for determining compliance with Alaska's search and seizure clause is "inexorably entwined" with the standard of privacy established in article
I, section 22.
The Municipality policy at issue here requires Police Employees and Fire Fighters members to submit to urinalysis for purposes of disclosing potential substance abuse. The United States Supreme Court has held that urine testing conducted under analogous circumstances qualifies as a "search" for constitutional purposes:
Because it is clear that the collection and testing of urine intrudes upon expectations of privacy that society has long recognized as reasonable, the Federal Courts of Appeals have concluded unanimously, and we agree, that these intrusions must be deemed searches under the Fourth Amendment.[ ]
Because the policy at issue here unquestionably requires employees to submit to "searches," and because Alaska's search and seizure clause incorporates the requirements of Alaska's privacy clause, we can resolve all of the constitutional issues raised in this case by applying the analytical framework governing Alaska's search and seizure provision, article I, section 14. If the disputed policy passes muster under this analysis, it will necessarily also satisfy the requirements of article I, section 22, as well as the corresponding, but more lenient, demands of the United States Constitution.
The United States Supreme Court has decided four cases addressing the validity, under the Fourth Amendment, of suspicionless substance abuse testing requirements analogous to those challenged here.
In Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Ass'n, the Court upheld Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations that required railroads to administer breath and urine tests to all employees involved in accidents and that authorized railroads to test employees upon reasonable suspicion and after violations of safety rules. The Court held that the testing regulations were constitutional, noting that the railroad industry is pervasively regulated, that the challenged regulations were designed to deter drug and alcohol use, that requiring individualized suspicion would unduly interfere with the railroad's ability to obtain information concerning accident causes, and that the regulations contained adequate safeguards to prevent abuses of discretion by supervisors. Thus, the Court ruled that the compelling governmental interest in protecting public safety outweighed railroad employees' privacy concerns.
In National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab, a case decided the same day as Skinner, the Court considered regulations that subjected United States Customs Service employees to suspicionless testing upon promotion to (or application for) positions directly involving the interdiction of illegal drugs or positions that required carrying a firearm. Unlike the railroad employees in Skinner, the Customs Service employees in Von Raab had no history of drug and aleohol abuse problems. The Court nonetheless found the regulations to be constitutionally reasonable, noting that Customs Service employees were in the unique position of having easy access to contraband, becoming the targets of bribes, and maintaining national security. The Court thus upheld the testing requirement as justified by "special needs":
The Government's compelling interests in preventing the promotion of drug users to positions where they might endanger the integrity of our Nation's borders or the life of the citizenry outweigh the privacy interests of those who seek promotion to these positions, who enjoy a diminished expectation of privacy by virtue of the special, and obvious, physical and ethical demands of those positions.[ ]
In Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, the Court upheld a school district policy that required random drug tests of all students wishing to participate in interscholastic athletic activities. In reaching its decision, the Court emphasized that the state has "custodial and tutelary" power over public schoolchildren. Further, the Court noted, student athletes have a lesser expectation of privacy because often they are required to "suit up" before practices and events in public locker rooms, undergo a physical exam, carry adequate health insurance, and maintain a minimum grade point average. Relying on evidence indicating that these students encountered particularly high physical risks from drug use, the Vernonia Court concluded that the governmental interest in deterring drug use among student athletes was compelling, whereas the intrusion on their privacy was minimal. The Court thus approved the testing requirement, but cautioned "against the assumption that suspi-cionless drug testing will readily pass constitutional muster in other contexts."
More recently, in Chandler v. Miller, the Court held that a Georgia statute requiring candidates for state office to certify that they had tested negative for illegal drugs violated the Fourth Amendment. The Court reasoned that the requirement "does not fit within the closely guarded category of constitutionally permissible suspicionless searches. Reviewing its past decisions on suspicionless drug testing, the Court noted that the Georgia law did not deal with a pervasively regulated industry or with a group that had a demonstrated substance abuse problem, as in Skimmer; that elective office holders in Georgia were not intimately involved in drug interdiction, as in Von Raab; and that they had little in common with student athletes entrusted to the government's care, as in Vernonia. Finding no special need for suspicionless drug testing, the Court found Georgia's symbolic interest in fighting illegal drugs insufficient to permit deviation from the Fourth Amendment's usual requirements of a warrant supported by probable cause.
And most recently, in Ferguson v. City of Charleston, the Court ruled unconstitutional a hospital's suspicionless drug-testing policy. Under the policy at issue in Ferguson, a public hospital in Charleston, with assistance from South Carolina law enforeement author ities, devised a policy of subjecting pregnant patients to suspicionless urine testing for cocaine if they met certain profile criteria. A central requirement of the policy was that hospital personnel would notify the police of patients who tested positive; those patients were arrested and threatened with prosecution unless they submitted to substance abuse education or treatment. In concluding that this policy violated the requirements of the Fourth Amendment, the Court emphasized that a special need that justifies testing in the absence of probable cause and a warrant must be "one divoreed from the State's general interest in law enforcement"-that is, a special need could not be found to exist when the "direct and primary purpose" of testing patients was "the specific purpose of incriminating those patients."
In considering the validity of suspicionless testing in the foregoing cases, the Supreme Court applied a "special needs" test that Justice Scalia aptly summarized in Vernonia:
As the text of the Fourth Amendment indicates, the ultimate measure of the constitutionality of a governmental search is "reasonableness." At least in a case such as this, where there was no clear practice, either approving or disapproving the type of search at issue, at the time the constitutional provision was enacted, whether a particular search meets the reasonableness standard " 'is judged by balancing its intrusion on the individual's Fourth Amendment interests against its promotion of legitimate governmental interests! " Where a search is undertaken by law enforcement officials to discover evidence of criminal wrongdoing, this Court has said that reasonableness generally requires the obtaining of a judicial warrant. Warrants cannot be issued, of course, without the showing of probable ecause required by the Warrant Clause. But a warrant is not required to establish the reasonableness of all government searches; and when a warrant is not required (and the Warrant Clause therefore not applicable), probable cause is not invariably required either. A search unsupported by probable cause can be constitutional, we have said, "when special needs, beyond the normal need for law enforcement, make the warrant and probable-cause requirement impracticable."[ ]
As this passage from Vernonia recognizes, the "special needs" test establishes a balance between the "individual's Fourth Amendment interests" and "legitimate governmental interests." In applying this balance, the Ver-nonia Court divided its consideration of the individual's Fourth Amendment interests into two components: (1) the nature of the privacy interest at issue-or the scope of the individual's reasonable expectation of privacy; and (2) the character of the disputed intrusion. Considering the first component, reasonable expectation of privacy, the Verno-nia Court focused on the factual context of the search at issue, as well as its legal context, that is, the legal relationship between the state and the individuals to be searched. Considering the second component, degree of intrusion, the Court recognized that urine testing implicated these privacy interests: the privacy of the tested individual's exereto-ry function and the privacy of the information revealed by the testing process. Reviewing these primary factors, the Vernonia Court concluded that student athletes would reasonably expect a significant degree of intrusion upon their privacy rights and that the degree of intrusion involved in the disputed urine tests was "not significant."
The Vernonia Court then turned to the government's interest in testing student athletes, closely examining "the nature and immediacy of the governmental concern at issue." Finding the nature of the state's interest "compelling" and the need for protection immediate, the Court drew the balance in favor of suspicionless testing: "Taking into account all the factors we have considered above-the decreased expectation of privacy, the relative unobtrusiveness of the search, and the severity of the need met by the search-we conclude Vernonia's Policy is reasonable and hence constitutional."
In reaching this conclusion, the Court expressly rejected the notion that a testing regime based on reasonable suspicion might be a viable, less intrusive alternative. Among the Court's reasons for finding reasonable suspicion testing impracticable, the foremost was its fear that a suspicion-based regime might actually prove more intrusive:
"[Plarents who are willing to accept random drug testing for athletes are not willing to accept accusatory drug testing for all students, which transforms the process into a badge of shame." Hence, the Court concluded, "[in many respects, testing based on 'suspicion' would not be better, but worse,"
In the present case, the superior court adopted the Supreme Court's "special needs" analysis as a guide for its own application of the Alaska Constitution's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Rejecting the argument that a warrantless search must be deemed per se unreasonable under article I, section 14, the court saw "the remaining question" to be "whether the search occasioned by suspicionless drug and aleohol testing is unreasonable."
Because it found no relevant definition of "reasonable" under Alaska law, the superior court proceeded to apply a case-by-case balancing analysis modeled on the "special needs" test articulated in Skinner, Von Raab, and Vernonia. The court noted-eor-rectly, we think-that "[this analysis is similar to the one applied to the right to privacy issues. Incorporating its earlier privacy analysis, the superior court upheld the Municipality's suspicionless testing policy as constitutionally reasonable under article I, section 14, and the Fourth Amendment.
In challenging the superior court's reasonableness determination, Fire Fighters and Police Employees rely heavily on the tradi tional presumption that a search conducted without a warrant supported by probable cause is per se unreasonable. In particular, Police Employees insists that the Municipality's policy is invalid because it "does not fall within any of the standard exceptions to the warrant requirement for a search and seizure."
Yet our case law expressly recognizes that neither the warrant requirement nor the requirement of probable cause invariably governs searches occurring in the context of a heavily regulated activity. And as the superior court properly recognized here, "special needs" findings are especially appropriate when employment occurs "in a highly regulated, safety-essential field of work. Workers employed in such fields necessarily expect reduced privacy in their job-related activities and implicitly agree to a diminished level of privacy when they accept employment.
Fire Fighters nevertheless question whether firefighting is a heavily regulated activity, insisting that "Fire Fighters are not pervasively regulated for safety." (Emphasis added.) But in our view, the superior court was not clearly erroneous in finding that covered members of both Police Employees and Fire Fighters are subject to extensive safety regulations. And in any event, whether firefighters are pervasively regulated "for safety" is beside the point. For as the Sixth Circuit recently concluded in rejecting an argument similar to the Fire Fighters' argument here, "this view is simply not supported by the relevant authority.... [The] cases demonstrate that the entire focus of the regulations need not be on the employees themselves, or relate to safety per se, in order for the industry to be considered heavily regulated. More pertinent, in our view, is that members of Police Employees and Fire Fighters undeniably hold safety-sensitive positions in extensively regulated fields of activity where they "discharge duties fraught with risks of injury to others that even a momentary lapse of attention can have disastrous consequences. We believe that workers in such positions would reasonably expect that their conditions of employment would subject them to exceptionally close serutiny.
Police Employees and Fire Fighters further allege that, even if the policy's provisions for suspicionless testing are not per se invalid, the superior court applied an improper privacy analysis in concluding that the policy meets article I, section 14's requirement of reasonableness. Insisting "that its members have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the collection and testing of their urine," Police Employees contends that the Municipality lacks a sufficiently compelling interest to override this privacy interest and that suspicionless urinalysis fails to provide a "close and substantial" means of meeting the Municipality's interest. Fire Fighters echoes these arguments, emphasizing its view that there can be no compelling need for suspicionless testing without proof of an existing substance abuse problem: '
The central objection which the Fire Fighters have to this policy is not one premised upon the intrusiveness of twenty- first century technology or medical science. It is not being subjected to the indignity of compelled urination. It is an objection which has its genesis in the two hundred year old Fourth Amendment: They do not, as individuals or as a group, have a drug problem. There is no "compelling need" which justifies divergence from the Fourth Amendment's main rule that searches must be made pursuant to individualized suspicion.
We find that these arguments are unpersuasive. In Messerli v. State we explained that the right to privacy is not absolute, but is subject to balancing against conflicting rights and interests. We concluded that, where a fundamental right is involved, the state must show a compelling state interest justifying its abridgement. More recently we reiterated the Messer test in the following way:
(1) does the party seeking to come within the protection of the right to [privacy] have a legitimate expectation that the materials or information will not be disclosed?
(2) is disclosure nonetheless required to serve a compelling state interest?
(83) if so, will the necessary disclosure occur in that manner which is least intrusive with respect to the right to [privacy]? [ ]
This test eschews absolute measures of privacy; it prescribes the same kind of flexibility that the Supreme Court described in Vernonia:
It is a mistake, however, to think that the phrase "compelling state interest," in the Fourth Amendment context, describes a fixed, minimum quantum of governmental concern, so that one can dispose of a case by answering in isolation the question: Is there a compelling state interest here? Rather, the phrase describes an interest which appears important enough to justify the particular search at hand, in light of other factors which show the search to be relatively intrusive upon a genuine expectation of privacy.[ ]
The touchstone of a compelling state interest, then, is simply that "[the] right [to privacyl must yield when it interferes in a serious manner with the health, safety, rights and privileges of others or with the public welfare.[ ]
We therefore decline to hold that a history of substance abuse problems is invariably necessary to establish a "special need" for suspicionless testing in situations involving heavily regulated, safety-sensitive job duties.! ]
Applying the flexible Messer standard to the case at hand, moreover, we hold that the superior court did not err, for the most part, in concluding that a "special need" for testing existed here. The superior court found that the Municipality's interest in en suring public safety is sufficiently compelling to outweigh the relatively modest-though admittedly not insignificant-intrusion on privacy that occurs under the disputed Municipality policy when Police Employees and Fire Fighters members are subjected to sus-picionless urine testing upon application for employment, upon promotion, demotion or transfer, or after a vehicular accident. We agree with these findings. We further agree with the superior court's finding that the Municipality's policy reflects a close and substantial means-to-end fit in these situations. In such cases, then-cases when suspicionless testing occurs upon application for employment, upon promotion, demotion or transfer, and after vehicular accidents we conclude that the balance of individual versus governmental interests tips decidedly in the Municipality's favor.
In our view, however, the balance shifts in the case of an indefinite requirement of random testing. The policy's provision for ongoing random urinalysis testing alters the "special needs" balance between individual privacy interests and competing governmental interests in at least three significant ways.
First, random testing places increased demands on employees' reasonable expectations of privacy. Because the policy's provision for random testing could subject employees to "unannounced" probing throughout the course of their employment, the tests are peculiarly capable of being viewed as "unexpected intrusions on privacy." For example, it might seem manifestly unreasonable for any person applying for a safety-sensitive position in a heavily regulated field of activity not to anticipate-and implicitly agree to-a probing inquiry into the applicant's capacity to perform job-related duties; the same would hold true for any employee who might be promoted, demoted, transferred, or become involved in a job-related accident. But a job applicant or employee who anticipated such inquiries might nevertheless expect not to be subjected to a continuous and unrelenting government serutiny that exposes the employee to unannounced testing at virtually any time. Such expectations cannot be so readily dismissed as patently unreasonable.
Second, random testing is more intrusive: it subjects employees to a greater degree of subjective intrusion. An unannounced test's added element of "fear and surprise, and its "unsettling show of authority, make random testing qualitatively more intrusive than testing that is triggered by predictable, job-related occurrences such as promotion, demotion, and transfer. Moreover, an ongoing requirement of random testing is more intrusive because its reach is broader than that of a requirement that attaches upon application, promotion, or transfer. In distinguishing the facts of its prior "special needs" cases from those involved in the hospital testing situation at issue in Ferguson v. City of Charleston, the Supreme Court commented that "[the use of an adverse test result to disqualify one from eligibility for a particular benefit, such as a promotion or an opportunity to participate in an extracurricular activity, involves a less serious intrusion on privacy than the unauthorized dissemination of such results to third parties. Of course, the Court made this comment in passing, and the testing regime challenged in Ferguson bears no similarity to the policy at issue here. But the Court's reference to the reduced intrusiveness of tests designed to determine eligibility for "a particular benefit" nonetheless evinces its recognition that sus-picionless testing requirements become progressively more intrusive as they place increasingly valuable rights in jeopardy.
Third, a requirement of random testing impacts the balance between individual and governmental interests by reducing the immediacy of the government's need for the disclosed information. Unlike suspicionless testing occasioned by application, promotion, demotion, transfer, or vehicular accident, the policy's random test provision has no logical nexus to any job-related occurrence. Particularly in the absence of a documented history of substance abuse, then, the Municipality can claim no immediate, job-contextual need to know the results of a randomly drawn urinalysis; it can only claim a more attenuated, institutional interest in checking.
Considering these subtle yet significant attributes of random testing, we conclude that the Municipality has failed to meet its burden of establishing a special need for its random testing provision. In so concluding, we note that the United States Supreme Court has never approved an open ended random-testing regime like the one at issue here. Indeed, Von Raab spoke favorably of a suspi-clonless testing regime that applied only upon transfer or promotion precisely because it lacked a random, unannounced component:
Indeed, these procedures significantly minimize the program's intrusion on privacy interests. Only employees who have been tentatively accepted for promotion or transfer to one of the three categories of covered positions are tested, and applicants know at the outset that a drug test is a requirement of those positions. Employees are also notified in advance of the scheduled sample collection, thus reducing to a minimum any "unsettling show of authority,[ ]
And notably, at least one federal circuit court has expressly relied on the absence of a random testing component as a basis for approving a suspicionless testing policy.
It is thus uncertain whether the policy's random testing provision would pass muster under the Fourth Amendment. But we need not speculate on this issue. Because we address the policy's validity under the more protective requirements of the Alaska Constitution, we conclude on the present record-which reveals no documented history of substance abuse problems among Police Employees or Fire Fighters members and fails to establish that the policy's goals will not be adequately addressed by its remaining suspi-clonless testing provisions-that the random testing provision is unreasonable and therefore violates article I, section 14 of the Alaska Constitution.
B. Public Interest Litigant Status
On cross-appeal, the Municipality argues that the trial court abused its discretion by finding that Police Employees and Fire Fighters were public interest litigants and by failing to award attorney's fees to the Municipality on this basis. We reject this argument.
We restated the criteria for determining whether a party is a public interest litigant in Valley Hospital Ass'n v. Mat-Su Coalition for Choice:
(1) the case effectuates a strong public policy,
(2) numerous people will benefit from the litigation,
(8) only a private party could be expected to bring the action, and
(4) the party would not have sufficient economic incentive to bring the lawsuit even if the action involved only narrow issues lacking general importance.[ ]
The Police Employees and the Fire Fighters satisfy each criterion.
The trial court did not clearly err when it determined that this litigation was brought to effectuate a strong public policy regarding the privacy interests of Alaskan citizens and the constitutional limitations on search and seizure. When litigants seek to effect strong policies like those affecting privacy interests, they benefit all Alaskans, satisfying the see-ond criterion-that numerous people benefit from the litigation. The Municipality does not contest that only a private party could be expected to bring this action, thus satisfying the third criterion. Finally, the Municipality's speculation that economic incentives motivated the Fire Fighters and Police Employees to bring this action is without merit. While the Municipality raises the possibility that individual Police Employees and Fire Fighters could lose their jobs due to drug use detected under the Municipality's policy, the Fire Fighters and Police Employees, as employee groups, have no economic interest in the litigation. Moreover, the two groups asserted that their interests in pursuing constitutional limitations on suspicionless drug testing significantly outweigh individual economic interests in departments with no history of pervasive drug abuse. The trial court so held, and we agree.
We therefore conclude that the superior court did not abuse its discretion in finding Police Employees and Fire Fighters to be public interest litigants.
V. CONCLUSION
Except as to the random testing provision, we AFFIRM the superior court's ruling upholding the validity of the disputed Municipality policy. We also AFFIRM the trial court's conclusion that Police Employees and Fire Fighters are public interest litigants. As to the random testing policy, we REVERSE for the reasons stated in this opinion.
MATTHEWS, C.J., dissents.
COMPTON and FABE, JJ., not participating.
. The background facts are uncontroverted; we distill our factual summary from the superior court's opinion.
. The policy also provides for testing, under certain circumstances, by breath or saliva. Because these provisions are not directly at issue here, we need not expressly address them.
. Thereafter, in October 1996, the Municipality implemented the policy on a limited basis. Fire Fighters members were subjected to all but the random testing provisions and Police Employees members were subjected to testing on reasonable suspicion.
. See Nielson v. Benton, 903 P.2d 1049, 1052 (Alaska 1995).
. See Wright v. State, 824 P.2d 718, 720 (Alaska 1992).
. See Voigt v. Snowden, 923 P.2d 778, 781 (Alaska 1996).
. Guin v. Ha, 591 P.2d 1281, 1284 n. 6 (Alaska 1979).
. See Eyak Traditional Elders Council v. Sherstone, Inc., 904 P.2d 420, 423 (Alaska 1995).
. The parties do not dispute the portions of the policy that allow testing based upon reasonable suspicion.
. We attach Judge Hunt's decision to this opinion as Appendix A and adopt the decision's comprehensive factual findings for purposes of our opinion.
. Ravin v. State, 537 P.2d 494, 514-15 (Alaska 1975) (Boochever, J., and Connor, J., concurring); see also Messerli v. State, 626 P.2d 81, 83 (Alaska 1980).
. See Ellison v. State, 383 P.2d 716, 718 (Alaska 1963).
. See State v. Jones, 706 P.2d 317, 324 (Alaska 1985); Schultz v. State, 593 P.2d 640, 642 (Alaska 1979); State v. Daniel, 589 P.2d 408, 416-18 (Alaska 1979); State v. Glass, 583 P.2d 872, 879 (Alaska 1978), modified on other grounds, City of Juneau v. Quinto, 684 P.2d 127, 129 (Alaska 1984); Zehrung v. State, 569 P.2d 189, 199 (Alaska 1977); Woods & Rohde, Inc. v. State, Dep't of Labor, 565 P.2d 138, 150-51 (Alaska 1977).
. Schultz, 593 P.2d at 642 (quoting Welt v. State, 431 P.2d 502, 506 (Alaska 1967)) (internal quotation marks omitted).
. Woods & Rohde, 565 P.2d at 151.
. Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Ass'n, 489 U.S. 602, 617, 109 S.Ct. 1402, 103 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989).
. 489 U.S. at 602, 109 S.Ct. 1402.
. See id. at 609-11, 109 S.Ct. 1402.
. See id. at 627, 109 S.Ct. 1402.
. See id. at 630, 109 S.Ct. 1402. The Court noted that "(bly ensuring that employees in safety-sensitive positions know they will be tested upon the occurrence of a triggering event, the timing of which no employee can predict with certainty, the regulations significantly increase the deterrent effect of the administrative penalties associated with the prohibited conduct." Id.
. See id. at 631, 109 S.Ct. 1402.
. See id. at 622 n. 6, 109 S.Ct. 1402.
. See id. at 633, 109 S.Ct. 1402.
. 489 U.S. 656, 109 S.Ci. 1384, 103 LEd.2d 685 (1989).
. See id. at 673-74, 109 S.Ct. 1384; see also id. at 680-81, 109 S.Ct. 1384 (Scalia, J., dissenting).
. See id. at 669, 109 S.Ct. 1384. Butcf. Chandler v. Miller, 520 U.S. 305, 321, 117 S.Ct. 1295, 137 L.Ed.2d 513 (1997) (noting that Von Raab was "[hlardly a decision opening broad vistas for suspicionless searches [and] must be read in its unique context").
. Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 679, 109 S.Ct. 1384. Due to an inadequate record, the Court declined to decide whether suspicionless drug testing was constitutional when applied to Customs Service employees who sought to be transferred or promoted to a position where they would handle "classified" information. See id.
. 515 U.S. 646, 115 S.Ct. 2386, 132 L.Ed.2d 564 (1995).
. See id. at 648-50, 115 S.Ct. 2386. The District also tested athletes at the beginning of the season for their sport. See id. at 650, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Id. at 655, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. See id. at 657, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. See id. at 658-61, 115 S.Ct. 2386. The Court thought it significant that the District only tested for drugs-not for other physical conditions-and did not test for punitive purposes. See id. at 658, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Id. at 665, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. 520 U.S. 305, 117 S.Ct. 1295, 137 L.Ed.2d 513 (1997).
. Id. at 309, 117 S.Ct. 1295.
. See id. at 319-22, 117 S.Ct. 1295.
. - U.S. -, 121 S.Ct. 1281, 149 L.Ed.2d 205 (2001).
. See id. at 1285.
. See id.
. Id. at 1292.
. The Supreme Court described the genesis of its "special needs" test in Ferguson:
The term "special needs" first appeared in Justice Blackmun's opinion concurring in the judgment in New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 351, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985). In his concurrence, Justice Blackmun agreed with the Court that there are limited exceptions to the probable-cause requirement, in which reasonableness is determined by "a careful balancing of governmental and private interests," but concluded that such a test should only be applied "in those exceptional circumstances in which special needs, beyond the normal need for law enforcement, make the warrant and probable-cause requirement impracticable...." This Court subsequently adopted the "special needs" terminology in O'Connor v. Ortega, 480 U.S. 709, 720, 107 S.Ct. 1492, 94 L.Ed.2d 714 (1987) (plurality opinion), and Griffin v. Wisconsin, 483 U.S. 868, 873, 107 S.Ct. 3164, 97 L.Ed.2d 709 (1987), concluding that, in limited circumstances, a search unsupported by either warrant or probable cause can be constitutional when "special needs" other than the normal need for law enforcement provide sufficient justification.
Ferguson, - U.S. at -, 121 S.Ct. at 1286 n. 7 (some internal citations omitted).
. 515 U.S. at 652-53, 115 S.Ct. 2386 (internal footnote and citations omitted).
. See id. at 654-60, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. See id. at 654-57, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. See id. at 658-60, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Id. at 657, 660, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Id. at 660-64, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Id. at 661, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Id. at 663, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Id. at 664-65, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. See id. at 663, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Id. at 664, 115 S.Ct. 2386 (footnote omitted).
. See Appendix A at 34-38.
. Id. at 38.
. Id.
. In upholding the Municipality's policy under article I, section 22, the superior court applied the balancing test articulated by this court in Ravin v. State, 537 P.2d 494, 498 (Alaska 1975). The superior court described the test as follows:
First, the court must determine the nature of the plaintiff's rights, if any, infringed upon by the state's action. Second, the court must resolve the question of whether the infringement is justified by determining (1) whether there is a proper governmental interest in imposing the restriction and (2) whether the means chosen bear a close and substantial relationship to the governmental interest.
See Appendix A at 15.
. See id.
. Cf. State v. Myers, 601 P.2d 239, 241 (Alaska 1979) (stating that "a warrantless search will be considered per se unreasonable unless it falls within a previously recognized exception to the warrant requirement").
. See Woods & Rohde, Inc. v. State, Dep't of Labor, 565 P.2d 138, 151-52 & n. 69 (Alaska 1977) (relaxing probable cause requirement for administrative searches of commercial premises under state workplace safety statutes and recognizing that warrant requirements would also be relaxed in context of heavily regulated activity, but declining to relax requirement because the premises searched were not engaged in heavily regulated industry); see also Nathanson v. State, 554 P.2d 456, 458-59 (Alaska 1976) (holding that commercial crabbers "had no protectable federal or state constitutional interest" in the contents of their crab pots, because "[clommercial crabbing is closely regulated by the State").
. See, eg., National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab, 489 U.S. 656, 672, 109 S.Ct. 1384, 103 L.Ed.2d 685 (1989) (holding that when employees' duties depend on judgment and dexterity, they cannot reasonably expect to keep from their employer information bearing directly on their fitness).
. Knox County Educ. Ass'n v. Knox County Bd. of Educ., 158 F.3d 361, 382-83 (6th Cir.1998).
. Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Ass'n, 489 U.S. 602, 628, 109 S.Ct. 1402, 103 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989).
. 626 P.2d 81 (Alaska 1980).
. See id. at 84.
. Alaska Wildlife Alliance v. Rue, 948 P.2d 976, 980 (Alaska 1997) (alteration in original) (quoting Jones v. Jennings, 788 P.2d 732, 738 (Alaska 1990)).
. 515 U.S. 646, 661, L.Ed.2d 564 (1995). 115 S.Ct. 2386, 132
. Ravin v. State, 537 P.2d 494, 504 (Alaska 1975).
. We note that the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion in Von Raab, where the Court upheld suspicionless testing of certain Customs Service employees based on the nature of their duties, despite the absence of any documented drug abuse problem among Service employees:
Because successful performance of their duties depends uniquely on their judgment and dexterity, these employees cannot reasonably expect to keep from the Service personal information that bears directly on their fitness. While reasonable tests designed to elicit this information doubtless infringe some privacy expectations, we do not believe these expectations outweigh the Government's compelling interests in safety and in the integrity of our borders.
Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 672, 109 S.Ct. 1384 (internal citations omitted). We do not read Chandler v. Miller, 520 U.S. 305, 117 S.Ct. 1295, 137 L.Ed.2d 513 (1997) to conflict with this proposition in stating that "Von Raab must be read in its unique context." 520 U.S. at 321, 117 S.Ct. 1295. To the contrary, Chandler recognizes that the "special needs" test requires a case-by-case examination of the duties performed by the employees to be tested. In our view, the duties of police officers and firefighters fall far closer to those of Customs Service employees than those of elected public officials.
. Although the parties dispute whether the "special need" asserted in this case to justify the disputed policy-public safety-is sufficiently compelling to withstand constitutional scrutiny, there is no dispute that this need qualifies as a "need divorced from the State's general interest in law enforcement." See Ferguson v. City of Charleston, - U.S. at -, 121 S.Ct. 1281, 1289, 149 L.Ed.2d 205 (2001).
. As the Supreme Court noted in Vernonia, the proposed alternative of suspicion based testing may well be impracticable and, indeed, counterproductive. See Vernonia, 515 U.S. at 664, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. In so concluding, we note that suspicionless testing regimes in comparable situations have been upheld by an overwhelming majority of courts in other jurisdictions. See, e.g., Hatley v. Department of Navy, 164 F.3d 602 (Fed.Cir.1998) (firefighters); Knox County Educ. Ass'n v. Knox County Bd. of Educ., 158 F.3d 361 (6th Cir.1998) (school teachers); Aubrey v. School Bd. of Lafayette Parish, 148 F.3d 559 (5th Cir.1998) (school custodians); Bluestein v. Skinner, 908 F.2d 451 (9th Cir.1990) (airline industry personnel); Taylor v. O'Grady, 888 F.2d 1189 (7th Cir.1989) (correctional officers in regular contact with inmates); National Fed'n of Fed. Employees v. Cheney, 884 F.2d 603 (D.C.Cir.1989) (Army's civilian aviation personnel, police, and guards); Thomson v. Marsh, 884 F.2d 113 (4th Cir.1989) (chemical weapons plant workers); Guirey v. Roache, 873 F.2d 1557 (1st Cir.1989) (police officers carrying firearms or engaged in drug interdiction efforts); Policemen's Benevolent Ass'n of New Jersey v. Washington Township, 850 F.2d 133 (3d Cir.1988) (police officers); Rushton v. Nebraska Pub. Power Dist., 844 F.2d 562 (8th Cir.1988) {nuclear power plant engineers); Smith v. Fresno Irrigation Dist., 72 Cal.App.4th 147, 84 Cal.Rptr.2d 775 (1999) (construction and maintenance workers); McCloskey v. Honolulu Police Dep't, 71 Haw. 568, 799 P.2d 953 (1990) (police officers); Doe v. City of Honolulu, 8 Haw.App. 571, 816 P.2d 306 (1991) (firefighters); City of Annapolis v. United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400, 317 Md. 544, 565 A.2d 672 (App.Ct.1989) (police officers and firefighters); New Jersey Transit PBA Local 304 v. New Jersey Transit Corp., 151 N.J. 531, 701 A.2d 1243 (1997) (transit police officers); Caruso v. Ward, 72 N.Y.2d 432, 534 N.Y.S.2d 142, 530 N.E.2d 850 (1988) (police officers in elite anti-narcotics unit); Boesche v. Raleigh-Durham Airport Auth., 432 S.E.2d 137 (N.C.App.1993) (airport authority maintenance mechanics); but see Guiney v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 411 Mass. 328, 582 N.E.2d 523 (1991) (police officers).
. As originally proposed in September 1994, Municipality Policy/Procedure 40-24 called for random testing without prior notice. Employees were to be contacted and escorted to the collection site by a supervisor; testing would occur throughout the year; safety-sensitive employees would be subject to testing on multiple occasions; and testing for drugs would "not have to be conducted in immediate time proximity to performing job functions." Although the Municipality's October 1995 amended policy omitted the random testing provisions of P & P 40-24 pending court review, the Municipality has stated that "(ilt remains MOA's intent . to include 'public safety' employees in random testing if such testing is found to be constitutional."
. Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 672 n. 2, 109 S.Ct. 1384.
. City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32, -, 121 S.Ct. 447, 458, 148 L.Ed.2d 333 (2000) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting).
. Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 672 n. 2, 109 S.Ct. 1384.
. - U.S. at -, 121 S.Ct. 1281, 1288, 149 LEd.2d 205 (2001).
. In Skinner, the Court upheld suspicionless testing for railway workers involved in accidents and safety-related violations. 489 U.S. at 607-11, 109 S.Ct. 1402. In Von Reab the Court approved suspicionless testing for applicants seeking promotion or transfer to certain Customs Service positions. 489 U.S. at 679, 109 S.Ct. 1384. Vernonia is the only case in which the Court has considered a random testing provision. Although the Vernonia Court upheld a random test requirement for high school students, the record in that case established the existence of a drug problem among students that had reached crisis levels. See 515 U.S. at 660-62, 115 S.Ct. 2386. Moreover, the random testing regime that the Vernonia Court approved applied only to a limited class of students (those who chose to participate in interscholastic athletics), and only during seasons of active competition. See id. at 650-51, 115 S.Ct. 2386. Finally, the Vernonia Court identified as the "most significant element in this case" the school system's unique role "as guardian and tutor of children entrusted to its care." Id. at 665, 115 S.Ct. 2386.
. Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 672 n. 2, 109 S.Ct. 1384 (quoting Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 657, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979)).
. See Knox County Educ. Ass'n v. Knox County Bd. of Educ., 158 F.3d 361, 384 (6th Cir.1998). The Knox County court stated:
On balance, the public interest in attempting to ensure that school teachers perform their jobs unimpaired is evident.... These public interests clearly outweighed the privacy interests of the teacher.... This is particularly so because it is a one-time test, with advance notice and with no random testing component, and because the school system in which the employees worked is heavily regulated, particularly as to drug use.
Id. (emphasis added).
We do recognize that many other courts have upheld suspicionless testing policies that include random testing components. See, eg., Hatley v. Department of Navy, 164 F.3d 602 (Fed.Cir.1998) (firefighters); Aubrey v. School Bd. of Lafayette Parish, 148 F.3d 559 (5th Cir.1998) (school custodians); Bluestein v. Skinner, 908 F.2d 451 (Oth Cir.1990) (airline industry personnel); National Fed'n of Fed. Employees v. Cheney, 884 F.2d 603 (D.C.Cir.1989) (Army's civilian aviation personnel, police, and guards); Thomson v. Marsh, 884 F.2d 113 (4th Cir.1989) (chemical weapons plant workers); Guiney v. Roache, 873 F.2d 1557 (1st Cir.1989) (police officers carrying firearms or engaged in drug interdiction efforts); Police men's Benevolent Ass'n of New Jersey v. Washington Township, 850 F.2d 133 (3d Cir.1988) (police officers); Rushton v. Nebraska Pub. Power Dist., 844 F.2d 562 (8th Cir.1988) (nuclear power plant engineers); Smith v. Fresno Irrigation Dist., 72 Cal.App.4th 147, 84 Cal.Rptr.2d 775 (1999) (construction and maintenance workers); McCloskey v. Honolulu Police Dep't, 71 Haw. 568, 799 P.2d 953 (1990) (police officers); Doe v. City of Honolulu, 8 Haw.App. 571, 816 P.2d 306 (1991) (firefighters); New Jersey Transit PBA Local 304 v. New Jersey Transit Corp., 151 N.J. 531, 701 A.2d 1243 (1997) (transit police officers); Caruso v. Ward, 72 NY.2d 432, 534 NY.S.2d 142, 530 N.E.2d 850 (1988) (police officers in elite anti-narcotics unit); Boesche v. Raleigh Durham-Airport Auth., 432 $.E.2d 137 (N.C.App.1993) (airport authority maintenance mechanics); but see Guiney v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 411 Mass. 328, 582 NE2d 523 (1991) (police officers). But none of these cases independently discuss or consider the validity of random testing requirements.
. 948 P.2d 963, 972 n. 21 (Alaska 1997).