Georgia Conducts Drug Recognition Training and Impairment Checks Col. Freddy Johnson Appointed Commander of the North Carolina

Georgia Conducts Drug Recognition Training and Impairment Checks

By Capt. Andrew Montgomery, Region 3 Commander, Motor Carrier Compliance Division, Georgia Department of Public Safety

The Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD), commanded by Maj. Jeremy Ray Vickery and Capt. Wayne Mobley, planned and executed drug recognition training that culminated in impairment checks at inspection stations and interstate highways throughout the state, targeting impaired commercial motor vehicle operators.

Capt. Andrew Montgomery and Sgt. Shannon Griffin created the training program to better equip officers to be more aggressive against impaired driving, while also creating a pipeline of potential drug recognition expert (DRE) candidates. As part of the program, the training division’s two DRE instructors, Sgt. Griffin and Motor Carrier Officer 3 Chance Howell, traveled to regions throughout the state to teach an eight-hour standardized field sobriety block of instruction, designed as a refresher for identifying indicators of impairment and detecting impaired drivers.

The training included updates on case law, practical application, evaluations of standardized field sobriety tests and a written comprehension test. The training was designed to reinforce the confidence and abilities of officers so they can rapidly identify and evaluate drivers who may be under the influence of any substance that can impair their ability to operate a vehicle safely.

Following the training, the officers and training staff began screening drivers entering the inspection station. Officers utilized lessons from the training to make rapid assessments of drivers and determinations, based on those facts and observations, as to whether further investigation of possible impairment was necessary.

Georgia has a unique, unified approach to law enforcement, encouraging state and local levels to work alongside each other. For example, during the impairment checks, the local police departments and sheriffs’ offices provided state agencies with jail transports, evidence storage facilities, K-9 services and, in some areas, judicial representatives.

Departments from around the state, including Georgia State Patrol and its Criminal Interdiction Unit, Department of Natural Resources and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, participated in the training, assisted with the impairment checks and ensured there were DREs at each inspection station. These DREs assisted the officers in standardized field sobriety testing (horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk and turn test and oneleg stand test) and provide in-depth insight into other signs of impairment.

Working with DREs, who are certified by the International Association of the Chiefs of Police, also allows the other officers to see firsthand how impairment can be validated through extensive, in-depth evaluation of drivers. These partnerships reflect that each of the agencies share the same common goal of making the highways, roads and streets of Georgia safe for all travelers.

After making it through three phases of extensive training, DRE candidates are eligible for DRE preliminary training (also known as pre-school), which has as its prerequisites standardized field sobriety testing and advanced roadside impaired driving enforcement.

After completing the preliminary phase, candidates transition into DRE training, learning the role and tools of a DRE. Here, they will become experts in identifying impairment using a standardized 12-step process to evaluate subjects for signs of substance use in one of the seven drug categories and signs of poly-drug use. Upon successful completion of this training, candidates graduate to the field certification phase, which is conducted on the job, training under the observation and supervision of duly authorized instructors.

In this phase the DRE candidate conducts evaluations of persons suspected of drug impairment. The instructors evaluate the candidate’s skill in conducting drug influence evaluations and the candidate’s ability to identify the category or combination of categories of drugs involved. The candidates’ assessments are compared with the results of toxicological examinations. After successfully completing the certification phase, candidates must pass a comprehensive six-stage, written test to be certified as drug recognition experts.

The investment in DRE training, which provides expertise beyond the standard training most officers receive, has proven its value by increasing officers’ ability to correctly identify impairment, as evidenced during the statewide impairment checks which exposed how many operators were abusing legal and illegal substances. The checks encompassed all nine regions of Georgia, for four hours at each station. The combined enforcement time of these operations came to 39.75 hours, and resulted in the following: