Williamsburg Police Officer joins elite group of drug recognition experts

Williamsburg Police Officer Brandon White has joined an elite group achieving a feat that includes less than 1 percent of police officers across the nation.

White recently completed a seven-day training at the Los Angeles Police Department, which was the last part in a series of trainings, to become a drug recognition expert.

In other words, White can look at someone, who is intoxicated, put them through a series of tests, and determine what category of drugs that they are under the influence of or categories of drugs that they have taken. In many ways, he is a walking, breathing toxicology test.

"It’s a huge asset for us for Brandon to have gone through this kind of training," noted Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird.

A total of nine people from Kentucky went through the last portion of the training last week.

Nationally, there are about 6,000 officers certified as drug recognition experts and only about 70 in the entire state of Kentucky.

White said that he is the only officer in this area with the certification.

White said that he was warned ahead of time that the classes would be one of the most difficult trainings he would ever receive and he says the warnings were correct.

It was much like cramming a semester’s worth of course work in a college class into one-week.

White’s path to becoming a drug recognition expert started with an advanced roadside driving enforcement class that was hosted at University of the Cumberlands in May.

White scored the highest of any officer in the class and was offered a chance to continue down a path towards becoming a drug recognition expert.

This included a two-day course in Richmond and then another seven-day course at the Department of Criminal Justice Training program.

He had had to write an essay about why he wanted to attend, and get letters of recommendation from his chief and from a local prosecutor.

Then it was on to Los Angeles last week for an intense seven-day training program that lasted 10 – 16 hours per day. In addition he had to study and memorize vast amounts of drug-related information.

"It was a short course, but it was pretty demanding in itself," White noted. "It was challenging but it was good to get through. We’re very fortunate to have it here."

In addition to classroom work, White and his fellow class members had to evaluate three to five suspects per day to determine what drugs or combination of drugs that they were under the influence of. In one case, a suspect was under the influence of drugs in three categories.

Toxicology tests were also done on the individuals to verify the results.

White said that most of the drugs he and his classmates saw in Los Angeles were crack and heroin, which were often taken together in short interludes as part of a drug cocktail called a "speed ball."

Developed in 1970s

Two sergeants at the Los Angeles Police Department in the mid-1970s developed the drug recognition expert program.

By 1979, the Los Angeles Police Department officially recognized the program, which is now certified by the Association of Chiefs of Police.

The U.S. Supreme Court has also upheld the ability of officers certified in the program to testify as expert witnesses on the substances that individuals are under the influence of, Bird noted.

He said this type of training could have been useful about two months ago, when an impaired driver was involved in an accident.

Police had toxicology tests done, which didn’t indicate the presence of any drugs.

Bird said that the standard intoxication screening doesn’t check for inhalants. After police received information this was what the suspect was under the influence of, they requested an additional test, which confirmed the presence of an inhalant.

If a similar situation arises, White can come to the scene, conduct an evaluation on the suspect, and officials will know right there what substance or substances the suspect has been taking.

White noted that the program is designed to help take drunk drivers off the road, but that it can also be valuable during investigations of fatal vehicle accidents and major cases.

One thing White can’t do is examine a deceased person and make the determination.

White said that the evaluation doesn’t have to be conducted at the scene, and that an officer elsewhere could bring a suspect to the Williamsburg Police Department and he could do the evaluation there.

White said that not all of the 12-step evaluation can be done at the roadside any way.

Bird said this is a good example of where the interlocal agreement, which gives local police jurisdiction in multiple counties, could prove valuable.

Bird said that White’s training could also prove valuable if an inmate, who is brought into the Whitley County Detention Center, is showing signs of being intoxicated.

White could be brought in to determine what substance or substances that the suspect has been taking or possibly determine if he is having a medical problem instead.

After White conducts an evaluation, his work is only partially done.

From there he writes a detailed report, which is prepared for court, explaining what category of substance a person is taking.

12-step evaluation

When White conducts an evaluation, he goes through a 12-step process. The first step is to determine whether somebody is impaired and then to determine if the impairment is due to medical problem or drugs.

He noted there have been instances where certified officers have saved people’s lives by recognizing that they are suffering from medical conditions, which need immediate treatment.

In the case of drug or alcohol impairment, White is trained to evaluate people and place their intoxication in one of seven categories or a combination of categories, depending on what they have taken, including:

• Central nervous system depressants, such as alcohol, Xanax, and nerve medication.

• Inhalants, such as gas and paint.

• Disassociate anesthetics, such as PCP and ketamine.

• Cannabis, including marijuana.

• Central nervous system stimulants, such as methamphetamine and cocaine.

• Hallucinogens, such as LSD and Ecstasy.

• Narcotic analgesics, such as Oxycontin, Oxycodone, heroin, Demerol and morphine.

Prescribed impairment

Bird said that the number one thing his department has been seeing in recent months on the streets is Suboxone use.

"Every corner we turn, someone is on Suboxone," he noted.

Bird said that many people mistakenly believe that it is alright to drive while taking the drug because they have a prescription for it from a doctor, which isn’t the case.

White agreed noting that lawyers and the courts commonly misconstrue someone being within a therapeutic range of a drug as not driving impaired.

The therapeutic range actually means that the drug is working as it is intended to perform by a doctor. It doesn’t mean that someone isn’t under the influence of the drug or isn’t impaired in their ability to operate machinery, White added.

Bird said that he wishes the police academy would incorporate more training, like the national drug recognition expert training, into its curriculum for officers.