DUI enforcement today reaches beyond alcohol

 

 

Last year, Tennessee ranked second in prescribed drug abuse per capita according to the Tennessee Medical Association.
 

While the health effects of over-medicating continue to be studied, the excess use of prescribed drugs is known to present a very real danger: driving while under their influence.

“There seems to be this tunnel vision on alcohol when it comes to driving impaired,” Brentwood Chief of Police Jeff Hughes said. He noted that many prescribed drugs state come with the warning not to operate a motor vehicle while taking them.

“The law clearly states that too,” Hughes said.

Persons suspected and arrested for driving under the influence of certain pills undergo the same process as a drunk driver. A first time DUI offender may face as much as $10,000 in fine, a one-year license suspension and up to one year in jail.

“The same goes for all the other drugs; marijuana, cocaine, meth. If you are on the road, you are posing a danger to yourself and everyone else out there,” Hughes said.

The process of determining what substance a suspected impaired driver is on is a relatively new one, however. If an officer pulls over a car and the driver is visibly impaired yet a Breathalyzer shows a reading of zero, what is the next step?

“That’s why we are very fortunate to have Officer Boyd. He’s considered an expert in his field and adds a whole new dimension to our department,” Hughes said.

Stan Boyd is currently Brentwood’s only DRE (Drug Recognition Expert). He is specifically trained to identify the class of drugs an impaired driver has consumed.

His shift usually begins around midnight, and his skills add another tool to help officers on patrol.

When an officer makes a stop and suspects a driver is on something other than alcohol, he or she will make an arrest and take the suspect to the hospital for a blood test which can take months to be processed. Boyd’s evaluations take about an hour.

“We can’t force them to take the evaluation, but most agree,” Boyd said. “Then I’ll make a detailed report of the evaluation and turn it into prosecution to be used as evidence.”

A DRE evaluation is considered scientifically valid as officers check for specific responses in the body’s vital signs that pertain to a particular class of drugs. The assessment is typically conducted in a controlled environment like a police precinct by a drug recognition expert.

In all there are 12 steps to a Drug Influence Evaluation (DIE). Boyd will check the suspected person’s pulse, test the eye’s reaction to light, look for injection sites and examine muscle tone. There are also a number of psychophysical tests and dark room examinations.

In two and a half years as a DRE officer in Brentwood, Boyd has performed 50 DIE evaluations. He has a 90 percent class of substance identification rate -- a figure he stated is about the national average.

DRE certification not easy

The DRE program began in Los Angeles during the 1970s in response to increasing drug use on the streets. By the 1980s, the program went nationwide. Today 48 states participate in the drug recognition department.

Boyd and other DRE officers are currently training 24 law enforcement officers from every region of the state to become certified as drug recognition experts. Two of those work for the Brentwood Police Department.

“It’s been said this is one of the hardest training programs within the police department. DRE officers account for less than one percent of the whole department nationwide, so it’s very defined and special,” Boyd said.

Candidates must have previous Standardized Field Sobriety Test and Advanced Roadside Evaluation training. Then, they must acquire recommendations from two DRE officers, a district attorney and a chief of police.

DRE training involves 72 hours of intensive classroom teaching where students learn the seven drug categories and how to recognize their effects. Trainees must be able to describe and properly administer the psychophysical and physiological evaluations before progress to the Field Certification Phase.

Applicants will then travel to Phoenix to undergo 12 real life evaluations. They must correctly determine 75 percent of the drug categories to advance.

The final step before graduation is a six-hour progressive exam to test each applicant’s knowledge.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police sanctions certifications.

After this graduating class, Tennessee will have 200 active DRE officers. According to Boyd, it could not come at a more important time.

"One third of the car crashes in the state are DUIs, and that does not include any other drugs. There’s just no good tracking system,” he said.

“And just because a doctor prescribed you some pain medication, doesn’t mean you can still drive to the store or pick your kids up from school. It’s still illegal and dangerous.”

Ambien, Xanax among abused prescription drugs

Boyd stated that abusers can be any age, from a mother on her way to the YMCA or a teenager driving to school.

The drugs Boyd generally sees are prescription pills such as painkillers, Ambien, Xanax and anti-anxiety pills. He is quick to note marijuana and alcohol are still atop the list.

Yet for Boyd, the issue underlines a bigger issue of over-medication and abuse.

“Society plays a huge role in drug use. A lot of these drugs are over prescribed and easily accessible. But once you come outside and get behind a car, that’s when it affects your neighbors,” he said.

Clint Shrum, a DRE coordinator for the Cumberland Tennessee district, reiterated Boyd’s sentiment.

“Not everyone who is an addict meant to become one,” Shrum said. “Sometimes they are just doing what their doctor or the bottle told them to. I call them addicts by accident.

“But it’s up to them to follow up with their doctors and get proper treatment,” Shrum noted.

Both officers can’t stress enough the increasing trend of prescription pill abuse. The drugs are easily stolen from medicine cabinets at home or bought on the streets.

DARE officers now talk about prescription drugs too

Brentwood Police Officer Mark Wood has been a DARE instructor since 1996. He said the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program didn’t add prescription drugs to the curriculum until the mid-2000s.

“Alcohol, tobacco and marijuana have always been the top three drugs we focus on, but we had to add prescription drugs because they are so readily available. There’s probably not a home without them,” Wood said.

“So now we teach at an early age who they should get medicine from, how to read labels and how abuse can hurt you.”

According to Wood, prescription pills are the only drug with casualties on an increase. Statistically, most drugs flatten out the average number of deaths over time.

For Boyd, this is one of Brentwood’s biggest issues.

“Brentwood does not have a high crime rate, so if I can get impaired drivers off the road, our job protecting the public is done,” he said.

“But the reality is we can’t stop it all. People need to take it on themselves to take a closer look at the pills their taking.”

Jonathan Romeo covers Brentwood for BrentWord Communications. Contact him atjonathan@brentwoodhomepage.com.