COPS WAIT FOR DRUG RULE

Ottawa Police Training To Spot High Drivers Will Wait For Law's Passage

With only 47 drug recognition experts trained across Ontario, a course
next fall hopes to graduate more officers to the small list of
specialized officers who can tell if drivers are high.

But some police services, like Ottawa's, are apprehensive about
sending cops away for training when federal legislation on drug
impaired driving hasn't even passed yet.

RCMP Cpl. Evan Graham, the national manager of the drug recognition
program, expects to have up to 28 cops attending the course in
September and October at the Ontario Police College.

Graham is also hoping for another similar-sized class near the end of
the year, which means the number of drug recognition experts across
Ontario could more than double by the end of December.

There are also classes happening in Manitoba, Nova Scotia and British
Columbia, Graham said.

There are currently about 300 drug recognition experts in
Canada.

EXPERIENCED OFFICERS

Course organizers say the ideal candidates for the drug recognition
training have between three and 10 years of policing experience
because the officers have experience with impaired driving
investigations.

The years of experience also mean the officers will stay on as cops
long enough to justify the cost of the training.

Detecting drugged drivers is largely based on visual assessment.
Police researchers in Canada have been testing various roadside
screening devices, but they haven't found technology that fits the
needs of police forces.

Proposed legislation, if passed, would allow police to demand a bodily
fluid sample from a person suspected of impaired driving by a drug.

Graham said police continue to lay charges using their drug
recognition expertise, but the proposed law will "make our job easier."

Police don't know the scope of the drug-driving landscape in Canada
because they don't have the law to work with yet, Graham said.

Staff Sgt. Rick Lavigne, with Ottawa police's public safety unit, said
the eight drug recognition experts on staff are "good for now," but if
the proposed legislation passes, the forces will need as many as possible.

But until the time comes when the law makes it easier for police to
enforce drugged driving, Lavigne said he can't afford to sink
resources into more drug recognition training for Ottawa cops.

Lavigne said he knows about the fall drug recognition seminar, but
noted he's more focused on keeping the 65 positions filled for
breathalyser technicians, police experts who test suspects for alcohol
consumption.

Many of the technicians are being reassigned to other investigative
divisions, Lavigne said.