DRUGGED DRIVERS

Special Cops Raid The Doctor's Bag to Uncover The Impaired

TAMPA - The man in handcuffs was unusually chipper, considering he
was about to spend a night in the Orient Road jail.

``Thank you so much,'' Jan Hahn, 21, of Bradenton, said to
Hillsborough County sheriff's Deputy Dale Hyder as he was put into
the back of a cruiser. ``Thank you for keeping me from killing myself
or anyone else.''

Hyder was on Interstate 4 on his way to the jail when he pulled
behind another car that was weaving. Soon, driver Reginald J.
Jefferson, 32, of Tam pa, also was on his way to jail.

What neither man realized: Hyder is more than a street cop with a gun.

He is a new type of law enforcer roaming the streets in 22 of
Florida's 67 counties and in 34 states across the nation. He's the
first of his kind in Hillsborough County, although his Pinellas
counterparts have been in action since 1993.

They're called drug recognition experts, or DREs. They're trained to
examine a driver's eyes as a way of deciding whether a driver who at
first appears drunk instead may be under the influence of drugs or
possibly have a serious medical condition.

``Up until now, I think a lot of drugged drivers have gotten away
because of a lack of education,'' Hyder said. ``I've been doing DUI
investigations for almost nine years, and I'm sure I probably have
let some go myself.''

That's about to change, Hillsborough Sheriff Cal Henderson said. The
agency's drug evaluation program kicks off this fall. The Tampa,
Temple Terrace and Lakeland police departments and the Polk County
Sheriff's Office also are joining up.

The drug recognition experts program was lauded at a drug and alcohol
symposium this summer in Kissimmee that drew more than 400 U.S. law
enforcement officers. Attendees were told that the need for the
program is growing.

``This generation is turning less and less toward alcohol and
embracing drugs more and more,'' said Bob Jacob of the Institute of
Police Technology and Management. Jacob oversees the state's DRE
program and helped organize the symposium.

State prosecutors in Hillsborough and Polk counties are eager to test
these new experts in court. If they fare as well as those in Pinellas
County, the roads could soon be a bit safer.

``A prosecutor's dream is to have the DRE be the arresting officer,''
said attorney Lydia Wardell, who handles drunken driving and other
misdemeanor cases in Pinellas. ``It bolsters our case.

``This isn't just a patrol officer who stops a driver and thinks
something is wrong,'' she said. ``The DRE can assess body language,
the eyes and other functions, and articulate what drug a person might
have used.''

DRE Program Selective, Intensive This kind of evaluation might seem
better left to doctors. The Florida Supreme Court, however, has
recognized the trained officers as qualified experts capable of
evaluating suspects for drug impairment.

``If you can do a DUI or drug impairment case, it pretty much
springboards you to anything else you might come across,'' said
Pinellas sheriff's Sgt. Teri Dioquino, who heads the DUI unit and was
the driving force that led to 10 deputies being trained as drug
evaluators. ``It's the most intricate misdemeanor to ever get through
the court system.''

Becoming a drug recognition expert isn't easy, said Dioquino, who is
the state's program coordinator for Central Florida. To be accepted
into the training, officers must demonstrate impeccable DUI
investigative skills. If they pass the screening test, they enroll in
a grueling, seven-day comprehensive school that requires them to
memorize material that resembles first-year medical school training.

Once through training, the drug evaluators can recognize the most
minuscule symptoms of drug impairment, Dioquino said.

Recognition starts with the eyes. Most deputies are taught to shine a
light and ask the person to follow it with their eyes. The deputies
are looking for horizontal gaze nystagmus, which is any unusual
jerking or other awkward eye movement. This is a sign of possible
impairment or of a medical condition.

The deputies rarely are asked to testify about their findings from
eye evaluations. But this initial test can open the door to bringing
in a drug evaluator - a legal expert.

Eye evaluations were a hot topic at the symposium, where optometry
expert Jack Richman, who consults for the International Association
of Chiefs of Police, pointed out clues that can be gathered.

Drug recognition experts are expected to be able to testify with
pinpoint accuracy about the eye evaluations and other tests they
perform, said Carla Oglo of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys
Association.

Any police agency planning to use a drug evaluator should have a
specific room where the suspect can be exposed to almost complete
darkness and to both indirect and direct light, Dioquino said. ``If
they've used Soma or quaaludes [both depressants], their pupils will
be dilated regardless of light,'' she said. ``Narcotics like heroin
and methadone will produce pin-sized pupils.''

Open And Say `Aah' Next is inspecting the inside of the mouth and nasal areas.

``If someone has smoked marijuana or a crack pipe recently, there
will be little heat bumps on the back of their throat,'' Dioquino
said. ``You might not smell anything, but there's always a way to
find out.''

Marijuana makes the tongue green, and other drugs can produce a
yellow cast. Teeth grinding also may be a sign of drug use.

The 12-step inspection process for suspected drugged drivers also
includes taking the blood pressure, pulse and temperature: Stimulants
can elevate the body temperature to 104 degrees quickly, while
narcotics lower it. Muscle tone is examined because narcotics can
cause skin to sag. A blood sample is requested.

Urine is checked, and in Pinellas, the cup used to capture urine has
test strips that can immediately indicate the presence of some drugs.
Not all the information can be used in court, but it guides drug
recognition experts in drawing conclusions.

Because it may take two weeks to get results from blood and urine
tests, evaluators must rely on their skills to make a determination
of the presence of drugs.

For instance, ``impaired drivers always feel they can make it home,''
Dioquino said. ``But because their sense of time is altered, home to
them may actually be a 25-minute drive.

``That's the reason all of our deputies are trained to understand the
DRE program and call an evaluator when necessary.''

Saving A Life Drug evaluators aren't out just to catch the bad guys.
Their training helps save lives.

In Hyder's case, a lifesaving scenario has played out even before the
program is fully operational. About a month ago, he was called to
assist rookie Deputy Robert Gogolin, who was investigating a
single-car crash. The woman behind the wheel was sweating and
lethargic. Gogolin thought she might be drunk but then learned she
was diabetic. Paramedics arrived, but the woman said she would be
fine, so they left.

When Hyder arrived, he suspected more might be going on.

``I started asking her questions, and eventually I looked through her
purse,'' he said. ``Another ambulance pulled up to see what was going
on, and Gogolin and I asked them to do a glucose test.

``Turns out she was taking prescription Xanax for depression. Trouble
was she also was popping [ephedrine pills] that kept her from eating
and caused her [blood] sugar to drop.''

The woman was rushed to University Community Hospital. She has
recovered and wasn't charged.

There is no law against taking over-the-counter ephedrine or herbal
remedies that might cause reactions similar to narcotics or
depressants. Yet there's reason to fear these might be just as
dangerous to drivers.

``I think there has always been a problem,'' said Hillsborough
sheriff's Lt. Ce Arnett, who supervises the drug recognition expert
program. ``The thing is, more and more drivers are engaging in [drug
use] that makes them dangerous, maybe even deadly, behind the wheel.''