DRUG TESTING: OFFICERS TRAIN TO SPOT ILLICIT DRUG USE

Outside the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department on a hot
afternoon, several police officers stood outside their cars, waiting
to go inside to take a final exam.

They had come from departments across the state - one from as far away
as the Walnut Grove Police Department, near Springfield, Mo. - to
become certified drug recognition experts, officers trained to
recognize the symptoms of drug use. Among them for the first time were
a bailiff and a park ranger.

During the past seven weeks, the officers had learned how drugs affect
the body - how things like a suspect's muscle tone, temperature,
speech patterns and even pupils hold clues that help authorities
determine what kind of drug the person might be using.It's information
that Officer Kevin Blackburn, a school resource officer in Washington,
Mo., hopes will help him to identify those students who come to school
on drugs, something he said happens more than most people think.

"We're seeing a huge increase in illicit drug use," Blackburn said.
"That's the biggest thing I'm going to be using it for now."

In the last eight years, the number of trained Drug Recognition
Experts in Missouri has jumped from about 50 to more than 180, said
Travis Jones, a lieutenant with the St. Charles County Sheriff's
Department and the instructor for drug recognition experts in the
eastern half of the state.

Most DRE investigations stem from police stops when officers suspect a
driver is impaired. In Missouri, drivers can be charged with driving
while intoxicated if they are impaired by alcohol or drugs.

But getting police officers to recognize when a person is under the
influence of drugs can be a challenge, which is why police departments
are making an effort to increase the number of trained recognition
experts in their ranks.

Often before people receive certification, they might suspect that
someone is on drugs but not know how to investigate it, said Sgt. Mike
Plum, a trained drug recognition expert with the O'Fallon Police Department.

"Everyone knows what a drunk looks like," he said. "When someone is on
drugs, they don't always look like that. They can function."

There are more than 25 trained drug recognition experts in St. Charles
County, with most of them concentrated at the St. Charles County
Sheriff's Department and the O'Fallon Police Department. That number
has increased since Jones was first trained in 2000. Back then, he was
one of the only DREs in the area so other agencies often called him to
conduct an investigation. Now, the St. Charles County Sheriff's
Department has almost enough trained officers to have one on duty at
all times.

"A DRE is more likely to recognize someone under the influence than
someone who isn't trained in it," Jones said.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has plans to put at least 20
officers through the training in the next year, said Ed Moses, a
consultant with the highway patrol. Their goal is to more than double
their current number of officers trained to between 45 and 60, he said.

"The fact of the matter is (that) we have more young people that are
abusing pharmaceutical drugs," Moses said. "When we do DWI spot
checks, the community usually takes that as a sign, maybe let's
rethink (driving after drinking). We're hoping the same is true in
drug recognition."

Missouri has the dubious distinction of having the most
methamphetamine lab seizures in the country for the past several years.

But Missourians' drug use is not limited to meth. Police officers
across the state have said they are seeing more illicit prescription
drug use in everyone from mothers in minivans to middle school students.

"Drug of choice these days is Ambien," Plum said. "It's such a
powerful sleep aid. If you wake up without sleeping the full eight
hours, they're seriously impaired, stumbling."

THE PROGRAM

The training program was created by the Los Angeles Police Department
in the 1970s after officers there noticed they were stopping drivers
who were clearly impaired but failed to register a blood alcohol
content percentage when they blew into a Breathalyzer. The LAPD
developed a 12-step assessment that helps an officer figure out the
type of drug a person may be using. The protocol for the drug
recognition expert program was standardized in the 1980s and over the
next 20 years the program expanded across the country.

Any police officer can go through training. In St. Charles County it
costs about $250 for the course and supplies. Officers have to
complete a Standardized Field Sobriety Testing course and a 16-hour
training class before they can get started.

The actual training involves at least two weeks of classroom work.
Then, the officers practice doing investigations on at least 12 people
before taking a final exam. Once they pass, they are ready to put
their skills to the test.

THE EVALUATION

Many DRE investigations in St. Charles County occur after officers
stop someone suspected of driving while impaired.

A driver's behavior behind the wheel and after he or she is pulled
over are indicators for the police that a driver may be impaired.

"If you don't even smell the odor of alcohol but they have droopy eyes
and drowsiness, those are indications of opiate use, like pain
killers," said Sgt. Chad Fisk, a drug recognition expert with the St.
Charles Police Department.

Officers typically make note of the way suspects act and look, because
certain drugs cause predictable behavior. For instance, people who
have taken ecstasy, a hallucinogen, will often be sweating even when
it's cold outside, Plum said.

"The drug heats up the body and they're taking off their clothes and
it's not because of the temperature outside," he said.

Once an officer suspects a driver is impaired, he or she administers a
Breathalyzer test. If the test shows less than 0.08 percent blood
alcohol content, then the officer continues with the next 11 steps in
the DRE evaluation.

The suspects do not have to agree to do the tests, although most do,
Plum said.

The alternative would be an automatic revocation of their driver's
license from the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Next, the officer will take the suspect's pulse, conduct an eye exam,
and test the person's ability to divide his or her attention between
two tasks, like walking heel-to-toe for nine steps.

Sometimes people try to cheat on the tests, Plum said, or they stop
cooperating.

Even if an officer doesn't get to the final test, which is taking a
urine, blood or saliva sample, a person could still be charged based
on the officer's observations.

"I can say you're impaired," Plum said. "You can't make a full
determination, but this person is obviously impaired."

Jack Bauer, assistant prosecuting attorney in St. Charles County, said
it's not necessary to have a DRE trained officer conduct the
investigation to press charges against an impaired driver. However, he
said, the trained experts provide more thorough and accurate testimony
in court.

"It's making your case as good as it can, that's what officers are
trained to do before they charge somebody," Bauer said. "Make your
case as strong as possible."

GROWTH

Not all police departments in St. Charles County have a large number
of officers trained as drug recognition experts. The St. Peters Police
Department previously had officers trained but as they left the
department or advanced to higher positions, the officer's
certification lapsed.

To stay certified, an officer has to conduct at least four DRE
investigations in two years and complete additional training.

The time required for training can make it difficult for smaller
police departments to pull officers off road patrol to send them to
training.

Still, as police departments try to find a way to train their
officers, other departments are trying to increase the effectiveness
of their recognition experts by making sure other officers know when
to call one in.

In O'Fallon, DRE officers last year conducted 75 investigations, 67 of
which resulted in DWI charges. The St. Charles County Sheriff's
Department has about 100 drug recognition expert-led investigations
each year, Jones said.

The drug recognition expert program is being used in other ways, as
well.

At several police departments, school resource officers are DREs, who,
for example, work proms. They conduct investigations on teens who
appear intoxicated.

The most recent training class also included two firsts for St.
Charles County. Mark Schumacher, a county park ranger, and Rex Murray,
a bailiff at the St. Charles County Court, took their final test May
28. Schumacher and Murray are the first in their departments to be
trained.

Murray said there's a good chance he'll be able to put his new skills
to use.

He works with Associate Circuit Judge Philip Ohlms - the judge who
oversees the county's drug court.