STONED? DRUG COPS CAN TELL

Trained Officers Evaluate By Behavior And Testing.

Officer Eric Schroeder talked calmly to the woman who was strapped
to the emergency room bed. At times, she would mumble incoherently.
Then she'd scream or weep. At one point, she was able to pull one arm free.

The woman had been in a traffic accident. Officers at the scene said
she rear-ended another car. They had sent her to Northside Hospital
to check for injuries.

Those officers also called in Schroeder, one of the Pinellas Park
Police Department's six certified drug recognition experts. His job:
to determine whether the woman was driving under the influence of
either drugs or alcohol.

As a certified drug recognition expert, Schroeder is one of an elite
crew. The 4,000 to 6,000 DREs in the United States have generally
flown under the public's radar screen. That changed a couple of
weeks ago when Schroeder arrested Buccaneers wide receiver
David Boston and charged him with DUI.

Boston's arrest was based solely on Schroeder's say-so. Boston blew
0.00 on the Breathalyzer and refused to participate in the 12-step
process DREs use to determine which of seven classes of drugs a
person might have taken.

That left Schroeder with his observations of Boston's behavior and
physical condition. Schroeder concluded Boston had taken a drug of
some sort. He arrested him and took urine for testing.

Police said last Thursday that the results of the urinalysis backed
up Schroeder's conclusions. The DUI charge against Boston would
stand. But by early Friday, police still had not revealed what drug
Boston allegedly took.

The DRE program was developed in the 1970s by traffic officers in
the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD Web site describes the
DRE program: "This procedure trains selected officers to utilize a
standardized 12-step evaluation procedure, that enables the officer
to determine whether an individual is under the influence of drugs,
and then to determine the type of drug causing the observable
impairment. Importantly, the DRE procedure enables the DRE to rule
in (or out) many medical conditions, such as illness or
injury, that may be contributing to the impairment."

The LAPD says that DRE accuracy has been validated in two separate
controlled studies. One was done by Johns Hopkins University and the
other by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The program has since expanded to 32 states, the District of
Columbia and several foreign countries including Canada, Australia,
Norway, Germany and Sweden.

It's unclear when Florida joined the DRE program, but there are now
about 140 in the state and 40 in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
Pinellas Park sent its first DRE officers for training in 2001.

Training is rigorous, Schroeder said. Officers must first become
certified in traditional field sobriety tests, then attend a
two-week school. During that time, officers must pass written tests
and, after training, accurately evaluate 12 offenders before
receiving certification.

The training teaches them to evaluate a person's condition to decide
which of seven categories of drugs, such as inhalants, the suspect
might have taken. The DRE does not make a conclusion as to the
specific drug that might be involved. "We don't say, 'This person is
on Xanax,'" he said.

Schroeder, 34, has worked for the Pinellas Park Police Department
for a little more than five years. He began the application process
in January and received his DRE certification at the end of June.

"It's something I've wanted to do with my career," Schroeder said
Friday. "It's my goal to take as many impaired drivers off the roads
to keep the public safe."

The process, he said, begins with the observations of the officer
who makes the stop. Then, a traditional field sobriety test is run.

If there's cause, the suspect will be taken to Central Breath Test
at the Pinellas County Jail.

After that, the DRE has a 12-step process to determine if the person
might be on drugs. If the DRE thinks the suspect is on drugs, he
asks for a urine test.

The urinalysis determines whether the drug recognition expert's
assessment was correct.

Sometimes other officers call on Schroeder for his expertise. That's
what happened Thursday when he went to Northside Hospital.

Schroeder spent about 45 minutes trying to calm the woman. When the
hospital released her, Schroeder took her outside to perform field
sobriety tests. She failed them all.

She was handcuffed but tried to fight when officers put her in the
patrol car to be taken to Central Breath Test at the Pinellas County Jail.

While there, she began screaming and acting up. At one point, she
was handcuffed to a bench. Later, several deputies had to help subdue her.

In the end, she refused all testing. So Schroeder arrested her and
charged her with misdemeanor DUI. The woman is not being identified
to protect her privacy related to possible medical issues.

The process took more than two hours, after which Schroeder went out
to look for more impaired drivers.

"It's my goal to take as many impaired drivers off the roads to keep
the public safe." Eric Schroeder, Pinellas Park Police Department
drug recognition expert.