BISMARCK, ND ( KXNET ) — Following a rise in “drugged driving” cases across the state, ND Highway Patrol (NDHP) has taken steps to certify more officers as Drug Recognition Experts (DREs).

NDHP says that by training and certifying more officers as Drug Recognition Experts (DRE’s), they hope that could help curb the rise in drugged driving accidents across the North Dakota — especially with the legalization of recreational marijuana in surrounding states and Canada.

“If officers don’t have the particular training and their not skilled or they don’t understand certain impairment, they may no identify [the problem] roadside and there’s the potential that that officer could let that impaired driver go,” explained ND DRE SFST State Coordinator Trooper, Tarek Chase. “Well, for us to be able to provide that training, they’ll better catch or identify that impairment prior to that person leaving.”

He says that 63 officers from different law enforcement agencies across the state are now trained and certified as DREs.

The training to become a DRE Officer can be extensive. Officers must first complete their initial standardized field sobriety training (SFST) at the state’s Law Enforcement Training Academy

“You wouldn’t attend DRE immediately, you would get sometime on the road to be more familiar with being able to identify impairment road side,” said Chase.

Trooper Chase says one of the ways they evaluate academy candidates is having them attend a wet lab, where they are tested on their abilities to identify volunteers who are under the influence of alcohol.

“During the training academy, volunteer subjects that are there for that purpose will be dosed with alcohol and the officers training will be able to test those subjects using the standardized field sobriety test.”

Once they complete their SFST, they can then apply for DRE training and Chase says that program teaches officers how to properly observe and identify people under the influence of different types of drugs.

“So, it’s 2 weeks in classroom and there are basically tests and quizzes throughout. Basically, we gauge to make sure they are progressing,” he added.

Before they are certified as a DRE, candidates get real-world training on identifying individuals under the influence of drugs by visiting a Field Certification Site.

“There are other agencies in different cities in the United States that will host this DRE Field Certification and will be able to travel there to work with these local agencies to identify drug-impaired individuals that the students can test live.”

Chase says the field certification site could be at a detention center, where they are tested on identifying individuals under the influence of drugs. A volunteered toxicology sample is then taken to confirm whether or not the candidate’s assessment was accurate.

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