SPOTTING DRUGGED DRIVERS GROWS VITAL

On-the-road impairment is rising, and Pennsylvania offers a program
for police.

As deadly crashes involving drivers under the influence of illegal
drugs become more common, law enforcement officials say there is a
growing need for specialized drug recognition training, particularly
among municipal police officers.

In Luzerne County, four fatal crashes involved drugged drivers in 2007
- - compared to one in the previous year - according to data from the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The statistics also show 49 crashes countywide last year involved
drug-impaired drivers on roadways. Over five years, 246 crashes, 13 of
them fatal, involved illegal drugs or medication. Alcohol also was
identified in 106 of those crashes.

A training program developed last year by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration and International Association of Chiefs of
Police could help reduce the drug-influenced crashes, says a drug
recognition expert in Harrisburg.

George C. Geisler Jr., a law enforcement services director for
Pennsylvania DUI Association, said the 16-hour course for Advanced
Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) was designed to help
officers determine if impairment is a result of illegal or
prescription drugs, alcohol or a combination.

The program, says Geisler, serves as a bridge between Standard Field
Sobriety Testing and the drug recognition expert program. Geisler, now
retired, was the second municipal police officer in the state to be
certified as a DRE (drug recognition expert).

More than 200 municipal officers statewide have been ARIDE-trained,
but none are in Luzerne County.

Training officers taking time Getting officers ARIDE-trained is
complicated because field sobriety testing certification is a
prerequisite, Geisler said.

"Many officers still don't have that certification as it is not yet
part of the municipal police training regimen; however, it is part of
the Pennsylvania State Police cadet training," he said.

Rudy M. Grubesky, director of training for Municipal Police Officers'
Education & Training Commission, said sobriety testing certification
isn't mandatory for municipal officers because entry-level training
must be standardized - meeting the needs of even the smallest
departments.

Making training elective may not boost participation, either, because
it's hard for local departments to do without officers who are in
training. The field sobriety program takes 30 hours.

Despite the obstacles, ARIDE is catching on throughout the state,
Grubesky said.

"The first three ARIDE courses in Pennsylvania were taught by
out-of-state instructors because our state is still gearing up to
train instructors to deliver the program throughout the Commonwealth,"
he said.

Pete Quinn, director of Luzerne County's DUI Task Force, a
PennDOT-funded project, said he has spoken to Geisler about holding a
two-day class this year in the Wyoming Valley.

But departments would have a hard time freeing up municipal police
officers, according to Quinn, adding that many departments do not have
the financial means to pay for training.

"We would love to see each and every officer (at least) SFST
(standardized field sobriety test) trained," he said.

Kingston Township Police Chief Jim Balavage said he wasn't familiar
with the ARIDE program. The department has a handful of officers who
are SFST certified and he would welcome more.

"That is a problem we all have as police administrators," Balavage
said. "We would love to be able to have a unit for every type of crime
that is within our community. We don't have enough guys to do what we
want to do. It's a matter of manpower, money and time."

Grubesky's organization has a training grant program that can help
with the cost. Municipal police departments with a specific training
need can submit a grant application for a course, he said.

While there are no ARIDE-trained municipal officers in the county,
there are five certified DREs in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region,
Geisler said, two of them stationed at state police barracks in
Hazleton and Shickshinny.

Geisler believes the ARIDE class has improved officers' awareness of
and ability to recognize drug impairment.

The number of drugged-driving arrests statewide has increased by
almost 12 percent since the ARIDE program began in February 2007. Last
year, there were 8,643 arrests. Statistics on drugged-driving arrests
were not available for Luzerne County.

Law enforcement officers agree that specialized training helps get
drugged drivers off roadways, according to state police Cpl. David
Andrascik, a DUI and DRE coordinator in Harrisburg.

"The training does provide officers with additional knowledge of signs
and symptoms of drug impairment that they can improve their ability to
investigate impaired driving cases more thoroughly," Andrascik said.