Thursday, April 03, 2008
Kentucky Drug Recognition Officers On Patrol
Driving impaired not only endangers your life, it endangers the lives of everyone around you. Kentucky has specially-trained officers in place on the highways to detect those operating vehicles who are driving under the influence of alcohol and illegal drug.These officers, also known as Drug Recognition Experts, have specialized training above their academy training that gives them an advantage to detect persons who are under the influence of medications.This is not a unique program to Kentucky State Troopers, but one that is used by other agencies across Kentucky too.
Presently there are 80 certified DREs in Kentucky. Of those, 20 are KSP Troopers, 33 are Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement officers and the remaining number are members of local city and county agencies across the state. Only a select number of troopers are chosen for this program. Trooper Derek Sturgill of KSP Pikeville Post 9 is just one of those certified.On Saturday Night, Sturgill allowed the Williamson Daily News to accompany him on a shift. At 4 p.m. his shift began, and before 5 he had already made a traffic stop and had a suspect he believed to be under the influence of drugs in custody. During a routine search for weapons, Sturgill was told by the suspect, “Don’t put your hand in my back pocket, there is a needle in there.”Sturgill carefully removed the needle that was uncapped. Officers face these dangers everyday in the course of their job. “I have gotten several arrests using DRE skills that I might have missed if it hadn’t been for the training,” said Sturgill.The suspect told Sturgill during the course of the interview at the jail that he had been using illegal drugs for about eight years.The suspect explained that he had gone to rehab and had stayed clean for about a year, but had started abusing Oxycontins again several months ago. While being booked Sturgill noted the needle marks on his arms.Officers who are selected for this program undergo rigorous training in a three-phase plan. The DRE Pre-school is 16 hours, DRE School 56 hours and then the 40-hour file certification section of the course.Sturgill went through the training at the Department of Criminal Justice, located in Richmond, Ky., then spent time in Arizona at the Maricopa County Jail, evaluating prisoners who were brought in under the influence of various drugs.The program, which began in the 1970s in Los Angeles, Cal., was such a success in identifying drivers who were under the influence that it eventually expanded and is in 45 states and other countries.The program is managed and coordinated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.The training relies heavily upon the standardized field sobriety tests, which provide the foundation for the DRE program. Once trained and certified, DREs become highly effective officers skilled in the detection and identification of persons impaired or affected by alcohol as well as drugs. DREs are trained to conduct a standardized and systematic 12-step evaluation consisting of physical, mental and medical components.DREs conduct their evaluations in a controlled environment, typically at a police precinct, intake center, troop headquarters or other location where impaired drivers are transported after arrest. The drug evaluation is not normally done at roadside and is typically a post-arrest procedure.In most cases, the person evaluated is the driver of the vehicle and is someone the officer has personally arrested. In other cases, the officers may be called upon to evaluate someone who is suspected of being under the influence, and has been arrested by another officer. Specialized training pays off for everyone. The DRE Officer is asked to evaluate and assist in the arrest simply because of their expertise.A complete DRE evaluation takes approximately one hour.
Courtesy : Tony Christian Staff Writer Williamson Daily News.
Presently there are 80 certified DREs in Kentucky. Of those, 20 are KSP Troopers, 33 are Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement officers and the remaining number are members of local city and county agencies across the state. Only a select number of troopers are chosen for this program. Trooper Derek Sturgill of KSP Pikeville Post 9 is just one of those certified.On Saturday Night, Sturgill allowed the Williamson Daily News to accompany him on a shift. At 4 p.m. his shift began, and before 5 he had already made a traffic stop and had a suspect he believed to be under the influence of drugs in custody. During a routine search for weapons, Sturgill was told by the suspect, “Don’t put your hand in my back pocket, there is a needle in there.”Sturgill carefully removed the needle that was uncapped. Officers face these dangers everyday in the course of their job. “I have gotten several arrests using DRE skills that I might have missed if it hadn’t been for the training,” said Sturgill.The suspect told Sturgill during the course of the interview at the jail that he had been using illegal drugs for about eight years.The suspect explained that he had gone to rehab and had stayed clean for about a year, but had started abusing Oxycontins again several months ago. While being booked Sturgill noted the needle marks on his arms.Officers who are selected for this program undergo rigorous training in a three-phase plan. The DRE Pre-school is 16 hours, DRE School 56 hours and then the 40-hour file certification section of the course.Sturgill went through the training at the Department of Criminal Justice, located in Richmond, Ky., then spent time in Arizona at the Maricopa County Jail, evaluating prisoners who were brought in under the influence of various drugs.The program, which began in the 1970s in Los Angeles, Cal., was such a success in identifying drivers who were under the influence that it eventually expanded and is in 45 states and other countries.The program is managed and coordinated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.The training relies heavily upon the standardized field sobriety tests, which provide the foundation for the DRE program. Once trained and certified, DREs become highly effective officers skilled in the detection and identification of persons impaired or affected by alcohol as well as drugs. DREs are trained to conduct a standardized and systematic 12-step evaluation consisting of physical, mental and medical components.DREs conduct their evaluations in a controlled environment, typically at a police precinct, intake center, troop headquarters or other location where impaired drivers are transported after arrest. The drug evaluation is not normally done at roadside and is typically a post-arrest procedure.In most cases, the person evaluated is the driver of the vehicle and is someone the officer has personally arrested. In other cases, the officers may be called upon to evaluate someone who is suspected of being under the influence, and has been arrested by another officer. Specialized training pays off for everyone. The DRE Officer is asked to evaluate and assist in the arrest simply because of their expertise.A complete DRE evaluation takes approximately one hour.
Courtesy : Tony Christian Staff Writer Williamson Daily News.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 11:23 PM 
