IACP Working For You: IACP 23rd Annual Training Conference on Drugs, Alcohol, and Impaired Driving

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), working in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and various state highway safety offices, continues to provide one of the premier impaired driving training conferences in the world. The 2017 IACP Annual Training Conference on Drugs, Alcohol, and Impaired Driving (DAID Conference) was held in National Harbor, Maryland, and attracted close to 1,000 attendees.

The DAID Conference provides drug recognition experts (DREs), police officers, toxicologists, prosecutors, and other traffic safety professionals with a forum in which to share information, learn about best practices, and find out about efforts to deter impaired driving and make the roadways safer. Technology and practices are constantly evolving, and the DAID Conference provides consistent training, professional development, and information for DREs and other highway safety professionals on a broad array of new and emerging impaired driving issues.

The 2018 DAID Conference will be held August 13–15 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The annual DRE State Coordinators meeting will take place the day prior to the conference on August 12. At the 2018 DAID Conference, a mix of plenary sessions and concurrent workshops will keep attendees up-to-date and informed on a range of topics, including the implications of central nervous depressants and their effects on driving, as well as other relevant issues. In addition, conference attendees will have access to the following:

Premier training. Whether a DRE, highway safety advocate, law enforcement officer, prosecutor, toxicologist, or a private or nonprofit highway safety program provider, conference attendees will be provided with exceptional, informative training, including workshops focusing on many of the “hot topics” on impairment-causing drugs and impaired driving.

Affordable rates. Government-rate lodging and a budget-friendly registration fee are available, making the conference one of the most affordable international training events.

Knowledgeable speakers. Plenary sessions and workshops will feature knowledgeable subject matter experts from the areas of impaired driving, drug impairment, drug toxicology, and the prosecution of challenging impaired driving cases.

Networking opportunities. Formal and informal networking opportunities through conference workshops and other activities will be available.

State-of-the-art technology. Numerous companies, organizations, and government agencies will exhibit the latest impaired driving products, programs, and publications.

Professional development. Learning about new and proven strategies will help improve attendees’ productivity and allow the sharing of important impaired driving information.

Return on investment. Attendees can expect to return from the conference with new ideas, best practices, and resources that can be used right away to help benefit their agencies and their communities.

DRE recertification. For DREs, the conference will fulfill the required eight hours of recertification training and provide updated and relevant information that will benefit their agencies, fellow DREs, and communities.

Another important activity that occurs each year at the DAID Conference is the recognition of individuals who have made notable contributions to the Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) Program. Special recognitions are made in the following areas:

DRE Emeritus: Available only to formerly certified DREs who have served the purposes of the DEC Program honorably and with the highest integrity and who are no longer eligible or capable of maintaining DRE certification (such as through retirement or promotion to an executive position).

DRE Ambassador: Available to an individual who has contributed significantly to the DEC Program, but who is not and has not been a certified DRE.

Karen Tarney-Bookstaff DRE-of-the-Year: Presented annually by the IACP DRE Section to a certified DRE who demonstrated outstanding contribution to the DEC Program for the previous calendar year.

Information regarding these three exclusive recognitions, granted only by the IACP DRE Section, can be accessed at the DRE Section webpage.

Drug Recognition Experts—Making an Impact During Impaired Driving Crackdowns

Kyle Clark, Project Manager, and Chuck Hayes, Project Manager, IACP

Each year the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) holds U.S.-wide impaired driving enforcement crackdown campaigns aimed at reducing impaired driving crashes and related deaths and injuries on roadways.¹

An important, but often underutilized component of each campaign is the proactive and effective use of drug recognition experts (DREs), which are police officers specially trained to identify and apprehend drivers suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.² Utilizing their drug-impairment detection skills, DREs can play an integral role in addressing impaired driving, particularly during impaired driving crackdown campaigns.

The IACP and NHTSA continue to encourage law enforcement agencies to utilize DREs during each crackdown campaign. According to IACP DRE records, there are now more than 8,000 DREs in the United States.³ These officers can be major contributors in special emphasis patrols, DUI checkpoints, or DUI processing locations to screen suspected drug-impaired drivers and to conduct drug evaluations.

In 2017, two high-profile impaired driving crackdown campaigns were held during the Labor Day holiday period and the December to New Year holiday period. Forty-two DRE state coordinators provided DRE enforcement data during the Labor Day campaign period. DREs from those 42 states conducted 7,404 DUI arrests, made 1,124 driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) arrests, and conducted 1,304 DRE drug influence evaluations. The DREs also participated in 550 DUI sobriety checkpoint operations and were involved in 1,712 DUI emphasis patrols. In addition to their impaired driving enforcement activities, the DREs also made 5,464 drug arrests during the campaign period.

During the December to New Year campaign period, held December 12, 2017, through January 1, 2018, DREs from the reporting states accounted for 6,569 DUI arrests and 1,294 DUID arrests and conducted 1,163 drug influence evaluations. The DREs also participated in 340 sobriety checkpoints and were involved in more than 1,500 impaired driving emphasis patrols and special events. They also made 2,291 drug arrests during the campaign period. Three of the more active states during the December to New Year campaign were California, where DREs made 276 DUID arrests; Arizona, with 217 DUID arrests; and New York, with 109 DUID arrests.

In addition to the impressive enforcement totals, DREs were involved in numerous other enforcement activities, which included the following successes:

Colorado: Two DRE-related DUID investigations resulted in the seizure of guns, money, and methamphetamine, and felony DUI charges resulting from an impaired driver crash with a police vehicle.
Idaho: A DRE was responsible for conducting a drug trafficking investigation that resulted in the seizure of 1.2 pounds of methamphetamine.
Maryland: A DRE who responded to a drug overdose call performed CPR and resuscitated the victim. A warrants check revealed the subject was wanted for armed kidnapping and manslaughter.
Oregon: A DRE assisted his agency with investigations leading to the seizure of over four ounces of heroin and other multiple methamphetamine seizures. Another DRE, who is also a narcotics detection K9 handler, deployed his canine, resulting in the seizure of two ounces of heroin and 35 grams of methamphetamine. Yet another DRE arrested a suspect for DUID and discovered the suspect was also involved with child pornography, leading to numerous other criminal charges being filed.

This information, compiled from the DRE state coordinators, demonstrates the importance and effectiveness of having DRE-trained officers on patrol and involved in impaired driving crackdown campaigns.

Notes:

¹National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Drug-Impaired Driving.”
²IACP, International Drug Evaluation & Classification Program, “Drug Recognition Experts (DRE).”
³IACP DRE database, February 1, 2018.

IACP Drug Recognition Expert Section

In 1992, the IACP governing body approved the creation of the IACP Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Section. The primary purposes of the section are to serve as a coordinating body among the various DRE associations or chapters within states, to serve as a resource for officers, and to respond to the views and needs of the membership. Drug recognition continues to be an excellent tool in identifying and prosecuting drug-impaired drivers. Professional interest in the Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) Program and procedures has grown from impaired driving enforcement to include workplace drug impairment evaluation, juvenile justice, corrections, and other fields. The IACP DRE Section provides an opportunity for those professionals already associated with drug recognition to share common management, training, administrative, and practicing concerns. Recertification training, continuing and advanced education, creative teaching techniques for instructors, certification problems and solutions, and the development and sharing of databases are some of the issues considered by the DRE Section. The section provides DREs, the practitioners of drug influence recognition, and program coordinators with an ongoing forum for a discussion of needs and concerns through membership in the DRE Section. ♦

Please cite as

Chuck Hayes, “IACP 23rd Annual Training Conference on Drugs, Alcohol, and Impaired Driving,” IACP Working For You, The Police Chief 85, no. 6 (June 2018): 80–81.

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