OBTAINING CERTIFICATION AS DRE INSTRUCTOR

Candidates for certification by the IACP as drug recognition expert instructors must demonstrate that they meet all requirements specified in Section II of the National Standards of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program. The candidate instructor's progress toward completing certification requirements shall be documented on the form, "DRE Instructor's Progress Log," which shall be supplied by IACP staff to all agency DRE coordinators. The individual candidate DRE instructor shall be responsible for maintaining the log.

Completion of each step in the instructor certification phase shall be verified by at least one certified DRE instructor. Upon completion of all certification requirements, copies of the DRE Instructor's Certification Progress Log shall be forwarded to the agency DRE coordinator and to the state DRE coordinator. The state DRE coordinator, after verifying that all information on the logs is complete and accurate, shall forward copies of all completed instructors' certification logs to the IACP staff.

Upon receipt of the certification log, the IACP staff shall verify that all information on the log is complete and accurate. Upon verification, the IACP staff shall forward to the instructor a certificate of completion signifying that the candidate meets or exceeds all requirements of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program as a drug recognition expert instructor. The IACP staff shall send notification to the state and agency coordinators that the instructor has been certified. In the event that the instructor does not meet all requirements for certification, notification will be sent to the individual with copies to the agency and state coordinators indicating the specific reason(s) for non-qualification.

The IACP staff will maintain a computerized database of all certified DRE instructors and associate instructors. Each record in the database will contain the following information:

• Name
• Social Security Number
• Department/agency
• Mailing address
• Telephone number
• Dates of all training events specified in the progress log
• Name(s) of instructors verifying completion of training events
• Date certification was awarded
• All pertinent information relating to the instructor's experience and credentials

Drug recognition expert instructors shall maintain certification as long as DRE certification is maintained. As a service to the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program, the IACP will maintain a national database of persons designated as associate instructors or as instructor trainers for the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program. In order that the national database for instructors and associate instructors may be kept current, and therefore of use to the participants, agencies hosting DRE training events (pre-schools, DRE training, instructor schools) should provide to the IACP staff a list of all instructors and their instruction assignments.

PROCEDURES FOR RECERTIFICATION OF DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERTS AND DRE INSTRUCTORS

As specified in Section III of the National Standards of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program, all drug recognition experts must be recertified every two years following original certification. DRE instructors shall maintain their instructor certification as long as DRE certification remains in effect. All applicable recertification standards for DREs shall apply to DRE instructors.

The following process will be utilized to ensure timely notification and compliance with recertification requirements:

1. Eighteen (18) months following the date of original certification, the IACP will send a renewal advisory notice to the individual DRE with copies to the appropriate agency and state DRE coordinators.
2. Prior to the expiration of certification, the DRE shall forward to the IACP evi-dence of completion of all recertification requirements. The DRE shall for-ward copies of all documentation to the appropriate agency and state DRE coordinators.
3. Upon notification that a person has met all requirements under section III of the National Standards of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program, IACP staff shall issue a certificate recertifying the DRE for a period of two years.
4. In the event that information verifying completion of recertification requirements is not received by the IACP staff prior to the expiration of certification, the IACP staff will notify the individual DRE, with copies to the appropriate agency and state coordinators, that certification has expired. Following expiration of certification, the DRE may renew certification without penalty for a period of one year by providing proof of completion of recertification requirements. A DRE wishing to renew certification following the expiration of the one-year grace period must again complete all training and certification requirements enumerated in Section I of the National Standards of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program.

DECERTIFICATION OF DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERTS

Decertification of a drug recognition expert may take place if one or more of the following conditions exist:

• The requirements as enumerated in Section 3 of the National Standards of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program are not met by the individual DRE, allowing certification to lapse.
• A DRE voluntarily requests decertification.
• There is evidence of poor performance, inconsistent findings, or other acts on the part of the DRE which reflect discredit upon the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program.

In the case of a lapse of certification, the procedures in Section 4 of the Administrative Proce-dures shall be followed. A DRE wishing to be decertified shall submit a written request through the appropriate agency and state coordinators to the IACP staff. Upon receipt of approval of the request by the agency DRE coordinator, IACP staff shall remove the name of the individual from the list of certified drug recognition experts.

Agency DRE coordinators shall monitor the performance of DREs within their agencies and shall investigate complaints arising from their activities in the drug evaluation area. When, in the opinion of the agency coordinator, and with the approval of the agency head or his designate, a DRE's actions warrant decertification, the agency shall notify the IACP staff that the DRE is no longer certified within that agency. The IACP staff, upon receipt of this information, shall notify the DRE, with copies to the agency and state DRE coordinators, that IACP certification has been withdrawn at the request of the agency.

Nothing in this procedure should be construed as to prevent an agency from following internal disciplinary or administrative personnel procedures. The IACP staff will maintain records of all decertified DREs and the reason(s) for decertification.

APPROVAL OF DRUG RECOGNITION TRAINING CURRICULA

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in conjunction with the Los Angeles Police Department has developed a course of instruction to train police officers in the tech-niques of drug recognition. This course of training has been adopted by the IACP as the minimum training requirement for national certification for DREs and DRE instructors.

The course of instruction adopted by the IACP requires a total of seventy-two hours of classroom instruction followed by field certification during which a candidate must participate in a mini-mum of twelve drug evaluations. In the course of the required drug evaluations, a candidate must encounter and correctly identify subjects under the influence of at least three different cate-gories of drugs. The complete requirements for certification as a DRE are enumerated in Section I of the National Standards of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program.

In recent years, several training programs have been developed by police agencies and commercial training institutions with the aim of training individuals to detect persons impaired by drugs. A number of agencies currently utilize portions of the NHTSA/IACP approved program or variations of it in teaching officers the techniques of detecting the drug-impaired driver.

Section I of the National Standards of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program requires that a candidate for certification complete "...an approved classroom training course which shall, at minimum, achieve the learning objectives as stated in the IACP approved training curriculum." The Advisory Committee on Highway Safety of the IACP is charged with overseeing the operation and development of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program. In order to maintain the high standards of the program, the committee has established the Drug Evaluation and Classification Technical Advisory Panel. Responsibilities of this panel, appointed by the Advisory Committee on Highway Safety, include the review of proposed alternative training programs to determine whether or not course content and learning objectives are consistent with approved standards.

Organizations wishing to submit proposed training curricula for review and approval as equivalent programs for the purpose of certifying individuals as drug recognition experts shall submit lesson plans, visual aids and any other required materials to the IACP staff. The IACP staff will submit the proposed course to the Technical Advisory Panel for evaluation. Courses which meet applicable standards and learning objectives shall be termed as equivalent courses. Completion of said courses shall qualify the candidate for certification by the IACP as a DRE.