Drug Recognition Expert
Training School Announcement

April 16-26, 2007

I am pleased to announce the upcoming 2007 Drug Recognition Expert Training School (DRE). This is a highly sought after school and it does have some prerequisites, so please read the application for the school carefully. The program was implemented in the summer of 1996, in the Boise area, as a pilot project. At this point, there are 115 DREs actively involved in making Idaho a safer place. This training has allowed DRE Officers to serve as a resource for other officers who have stopped a suspect who is under the influence on a substance other than alcohol, or have a student under the influence at school or public intoxification cases. Without the training provided in the DRE School, these arrests would not occur and guilty drug users would go undetected. We make the analogy that what an accident reconstructionist is to a crash investigation, a Drug Recognition Expert is to a DUI arrest. DREs can determine if the person is under the influence of drugs, and which category or categories of drug(s) the suspect is under the influence of.

Becoming a certified Drug Recognition Expert is not a quick or simple achievement. This is why it is essential that the participating agency head and staff administration support their DRE. There will only be 20 officers selected to participate in the upcoming training. The dates of the next DRE School are April 16-26, 2007, and the training will be held at the Meridian complex. In order to become a certified DRE, the officer that you send must satisfactorily complete three phases of training. The first phase is the classroom portion, which consists of 9 days of classroom training. The officer must achieve a minimum score of 80% to move to the next phase. Once the classroom training has been completed satisfactorily, the candidate will be required to complete the mandatory field certification phase. The field certification phase is conducted out of state and requires a minimum of four nights to complete. During this phase, the officers will perform actual drug evaluations on suspects that are brought in by the host agency. The last phase in the testing process is the final knowledge exam. The final knowledge exam is an essay that usually takes the average student approximately 6 hours to complete.

The point that I am trying to make is; this is not a law enforcement class where all an officer has to do is simply show up to become certified. The final knowledge exam is time consuming and difficult. An officer who comes to the school and doesn’t take it seriously has a very good chance of failing. It is absolutely imperative that the officer you select be mentally prepared, and has a strong desire to become a DRE! Now to the all-important question: Who pays for all of this training? The cost for all manuals and equipment will be covered by POST. Each agency will be responsible for their officers’ meals, pay and lodging. At this point, it looks as if each agency may have to pay for each officer’s out-of-state travel expense as well.

The Idaho guidelines describing the requirements for certification and recertification are posted on this website and can be downloaded in PDF format. Please note any agency that participates is required to “share” their DRE with other neighboring agencies that request their assistance when practical. There will never be enough DREs to have one available to every agency all the time, so sharing of assets becomes necessary.

When selecting officer(s) to apply to the school, please take note of the requirements listed on the application. A candidate DRE officer shall meet all of them prior to being accepted into the program. Some other things to consider might be: whether or not the officer has time to devote to becoming an “expert” and maintaining that status, Cognitive ability (there is a lot of material to learn and retain), and are they a willing participant in the program.

If your agency decides not to participate in the DRE program at this time, or are not selected because of class size limitations, please keep in mind that there are planned future DRE schools. I ask any agency that wishes to participate in the upcoming school to please have their officer fill out an application and either send it to me on at the address listed below or fax the application to (884-7092). All applications need to be to me no later than March 1, 2007. Selection of the candidates will take place in by March 10, 2007 and those officers will be notified no later than mid-March. If you have any questions about the program, please call, fax, or e-mail me at the numbers and address listed below. Together we can make Idaho’s roads and schools safer for everyone.

Sincerely,

Sergeant Dean L. Matlock

State DRE Coordinator

Idaho State Police

P.O. Box 700

Meridian, ID 83680-0700

Phone: 208-884-7297

Fax: 208-884-7092

E-mail: dean.matlock@isp.idaho.gov