Town Police Officer Certified As Drug Recognition Expert

By Andrew Gorosko

A town police officer has gained certification as a drug recognition expert (DRE), having learned through training about the physical effects that various drugs have on motorists who are stopped by police for investigations into possible cases of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

Patrol Officer Matthew Wood, 37, who joined the police department in 2004, also will serve as a DRE instructor, providing police officers at the police academy with information on the techniques of drug recognition.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police issues DRE certifications. The state started its DRE program in 2011.

The training provides Ofc Wood with techniques designed to determine which of seven classes of drugs may be affecting intoxicated drivers. Those drug classes are: central nervous system depressants, inhalants, dissociative anesthetics, cannabis, central nervous system stimulants, hallucinogens, and narcotic analgesics.

When a motorist whom police suspect is intoxicated is stopped for investigation, police would first perform a series of “standardized field sobriety tests” on the driver. 

Beyond that, DRE officers use a formal process to evaluate the classes of drugs, other than alcohol, which may be intoxicating a motorist.

A full DRE set of tests would include obtaining a urine sample from the person being investigated.

The DRE techniques are keyed to helping police determine which particular class of drugs, other than alcohol, may be intoxicating a motorist, Ofc Wood said. The elaborate drug evaluation would not be done in the field, but performed at the police station, he said.

Medical tools such a thermometer, a blood pressure cuff, and a stethoscope are used to determine a person’s vital signs, including body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate. Those vital signs provide evidence on what class of drugs may be intoxicating the person.

Various eye tests also are performed in seeking evidence, as are examinations of the oral and nasal cavities. Muscle tone also is checked.

Part of his training for DRE certification included study of human physiology, Ofc Wood said.

DRE investigations use reference material depicting various prescription drugs to let police readily identify any pills that they find.

Ofc Wood recently spoke on DUI law enforcement to participants of the Student Police Academy, an informational program on law enforcement that the police department conducts for some Newtown High School students. That session included an explanation of field sobriety testing.

In Connecticut, the threshold for motorist intoxication for people above 21 is a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level. For people under age 21, that threshold drops to 0.02 percent.

Ofc Wood said that while nighttime is the most common time for police to apprehend drunken drivers, such incidents occur at any time of the day.

DUI is a continuing problem that is not going to disappear, Ofc Wood said. The DRE approach to evaluating motorists for drug intoxication should aid authorities in the prosecution of such offenses through better evidence, he said.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe said that over the years, town police have found that an increasing number of people charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs have been intoxicated with illicit street drugs or with prescription medications.

Such street drugs have included marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, he said.