Drug Recognition Expert

DRE training and certification standards are defined by the International Association of Chiefs of Police Training is available only to "a person ... in the employ and under the direct control of a public criminal justice agency involved in the enforcement of criminal or traffic safety laws or an institution involved in providing training services to officers of law enforcement agencies.". IACP standards require DREs training to be done using an official Student Manual. This manual. is widely cited in court as defining standards for the performance of a Drug Influence Evaluation. == 12-Step DRE process==

A DIE involves the following 12 steps • Breath Alcohol Test: The arresting officer reviews the subject's breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) test results and determines if the subject's apparent impairment is consistent with the subject's BrAC. If so, the officer will not normally call a DRE. If the impairment is not explained by the BrAC, the officer requests a DRE evaluation. • Interview of the arresting officer • Preliminary examination and first pulse • Eye examinations • Divided Attention Psychophysical Tests • Vital signs and second pulse • Dark room examinations • Examination for muscle tone • Check for injection sites and third pulse • Subject's Statements and Other Observations • Analysis and Opinions of the Evaluator • Toxicological examination: After completing the evaluation, the DRE normally requests a urine, blood and/or saliva sample from the subject for a toxicology lab analysis. == Critique & Controversy ==

Scientific validation Claims regarding the effectiveness of DREs have not been supported by research. These claims are critical to the admission of DRE expert testimony in criminal trials. The DRE Student Manual identifies three scientific studies as being those that validate DRE testing. These studies are: Bigelow 1985 (aka the Johns Hopkins study); Compton 1986 (aka the LAPD-173 study); and Adler 1994 (aka the Arizona DRE Validation Study). However, all three of these studies have been shown to have major methodological flaws. This mirrors US case law where testimony of police officers regarding alcohol impairment is admitted in court without the need for the officer to be an expert in, or to testify to, the underlying sciences of the sobriety tests they are trained to administer. Police Handing Out Drugs On May 2, 2012, activists with Occupy Minneapolis released a documentary video called MK Occupy Minnesota. The video documents testimony from participants that police officers in Minneapolis gave them cannabis as part of a Drug Recognition Expert program. ==See also==