November 21st, 2017 by WCBC Radio
The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce the recent certification of two deputies as Drug Recognition Experts. Cpl. J.M. Dowden and Dep. R. Grimm attended a rigorous 16 hour pre-school followed by a 56 hour school of instruction and a 40 hour practical examination in which both deputies had to complete with a 100% score in order to be certified.
A drug recognition expert (DRE) is a law enforcement officer trained to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) coordinates the International Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) Program with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Drug Recognition Expert Program was developed in the 1970s by the Los Angeles Police Department in response to the rapidly growing number of drivers who were impaired by substances other than alcohol.
The DRE Program uses a 12 step systematic and standardized process of evaluating a suspected impaired driver to determine the classification of drugs the driver is impaired by, and how to identify those that are not impaired by substances or may be suffering from medical emergencies.
There are less than 8,000 Certified DRE Officers in the United States making up less than 1% of the total number of sworn police officers.
Cpl. Dowden and Dep. Grimm will be available to conduct evaluations not only for Sheriff’s Office, but also for allied law enforcement agencies in the surrounding area. Prior to the deputies being certified, Allegany and Garrett County had one DRE assigned to the area from the Maryland State Police.
The Sheriff’s Office DREs were requested twice for evaluations in their first week of certification.
The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office takes a strong stand in the effort to remove impaired drivers from the roadways. With the high number of drug related incidents in the region it is the intent of the Sheriff’s Office to provide our office and area law enforcement with highly trained personnel to identify and remove impaired drivers to keep the roadways in Allegany County and the surrounding areas as safe as possible.
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