Nine South Dakota Law Enforcement Officers recently completed specialized training that will enhance their department’s ability to detect and arrest drugged drivers. Agencies represented were the Beresford Police Department, Box Elder Police Department, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Police, Hand County Sheriff Office, Lincoln County Sheriff Office, South Dakota Highway Patrol, Turner County Sheriff Office, Vermillion Police Department and Watertown Police Department.
These nine Law Enforcement Officers recently attended South Dakota’s 20th Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Class held in Sioux Falls. DREs are trained to recognize signs of impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol and to identify the category or categories of drugs causing the impairment. DREs conduct a 12-step evaluation process to make this determination.
“Having DRE’s all across the state will enhance our efforts to reduce all types of impaired driving in our state,” said South Dakota DRE Coordinator Lieutenant Isaac Kurtz. “DREs improve traffic safety through their knowledge of the signs, symptoms and effects of drug use.”
The nine officers went through two weeks of classroom instruction and spent a third week conducting evaluations of drug impaired subjects in Sacramento, California.
The DRE program began in the 1970s with the Los Angeles Police Department. DRE training is part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations Drug Evaluation and Classification Program which is overseen by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The International Program provides law enforcement officers scientifically validated means to detect and deter the growing trend of drugged driving. There are more than 7,300 Drug Recognition Experts across the nation (see http://www.decp.org/ ). Less than 1% of law enforcement officers nationwide are certified Drug Recognition Experts. South Dakota law enforcement agencies currently have 65 DREs.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol is an agency of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
Comments