We have published our 1999 LAPD DRE Unit training calendar. We will be presenting two DRE Schools at our training facility, 227 North Lake Street, and six DRE Schools hosted by outside agencies. In 1999 we will be coordinating/supervising twenty-six days of DRE Certification Task Forces. The task forces will be two or three days in length and run on week days during mid-day watch hours (1000 - 1900 hours). In addition to these schools and certification task forces, there will be four DRE recertification training days, a separate DRE Instructor training day, and two DRE Instructor Schools.

A short note regarding the DRE Schools hosted by outside agencies. As the original DRE agency and California State DRE co-coordinators, the Los Angeles Police Department and the LAPD DRE Unit have a responsibility to support the surrounding DRE agencies. The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) recognizes the LAPD DRE Unit and the CHP as the only two agencies in California certified to present the DRE course. Many agencies prefer to be trained by the "original DRE program". The LAPD has made a large training investment in DRE, with over three hundred currently certified DREs. It is in our best interest to maintain the standardized curricula and a prominent position in the California, National, and International DRE community. This is especially true for California, as any adverse court ruling in California will negatively impact our DRE program and each of us individually.

As the DRE program in California has evolved, the degree to which we must support outside agencies has decreased. Although we will be presenting six DRE Schools hosted by outside agencies, the level of that support is minimal. We will be taking three to four LAPD DRE Instructors to each of the schools. The hosting agencies will provide the facilities and funding for handouts and supplies. Four to five LAPD DRE students will be attending each of the four locally hosted DRE Schools. POST will fund the travel, lodging and per diem for the LAPD Instructors. The only cost to the Department will be the Officer's salary.

New for 1999 will be a six day course combining the two day DRE Pre School, the three day Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) School and approximately eight hours of instruction and training on case preparation and court room testimony. Upon completion of the five days of classroom training, a one day DUI training task force will follow. This six day course, five days classroom and one day training task force, will be called the Impaired Driver Apprehension Program (IDAP). We will be presenting this new course for the first time in 1998, November 30 through December 5, 1998. Initially it will be offered to all new motor officers, but it is expected that most Collision Investigation (CI) officers and selected patrol officers will be eventually trained. This course will prepare the officers for the seven day DRE School. We will be presenting three IDAP Schools in 1999. We expect to present our first seven day DRE School, (since switching to the ten day accelerated format) in early 2000.

The DRE School application has been a success. We created this form in 1997 and sent it to all training coordinators and DRE Instructors. We continue to rely upon this form for our selection of DRE students. We will need about 50 - 60 LAPD DRE students this year, 1999. Our best students are those referred by DRE Instructors. Please seek out some good applicants and provide them with a copy of this form.

The DRE Instructor Schools will be held at our facility in Los Angeles, 227 North Lake Street. There will be two DRE Instructor Schools in 1999, January 18 through January 22 and October 4 through October 8. If you are aware of a certified DRE who is a good candidate for DRE Instructor, have them submit a 15.7 and a current resume to Sergeant Thomas E. Page, OIC LAPD DRE Unit.

If there are any questions please contact Officer John Mott, Training Coordinator, Drug Recognition Expert Unit, Traffic Coordination Section, at (213) 485-8565.

Sergeant Arthur O. Haversat, "Doctor Art", retired on July 4th, 1998 (his independence day). There will be a retirement party for Art at the old Police Academy (Art doesn't know that there is a new academy) on October 23rd, 1998 at 1700 hours. Contact Clarence Metcalfe at the DRE unit for tickets. Since retirement, Art has moved to Sequim, Washington. He has purchased a five acre ranch with a large horse barn and a view of the Juan de Fuca Strait.

Officer Teri Moore has left the Department and moved north with her family. Teri's last day was April 17th, 1998. She is on an extended leave from the Department, but is soon to be a mother, again, and most likely will not return.

On August 2, 1998, Officer Kathleen Hill joined the Department's Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Unit as its Assistant Training Coordinator. Officer Hill has served the Department for approximately thirteen years, including three years as a civilian Police Service Representative. Officer Hill, who has been a certified DRE instructor since 1996, transferred to the DRE Unit from the Field Enforcement Section (FES) of Operations-Valley Bureau's Narcotics Division. In the capacity as a field investigator for FES, Officer Hill was responsible for preparing search warrants that have resulted in numerous of drug-related arrests and convictions. The DRE Unit is extremely excited to welcome Officer Hill to the Unit.

On May 6, 1998, Bessie Mae Moore, the clerk typist of the Department's Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Unit, died at a Hollywood convalescent hospital after a short bout with throat cancer.
Ms. Moore joined the City's employment roster in 1974. In 1983, Ms. Moore transferred to the Department's Traffic Coordination Section, the parent Section of the DRE Unit. In 1992, Ms. Moore became the DRE Unit's clerk typist.
Ms. Moore had a tremendous impact on the international DRE program. In 1995, Ms. Moore served on the registration staff at the First Annual DRE Training Conference that was held in Phoenix, Arizona. News of Ms. Moore's death was disseminated on a Drug Recognition Expert list serve on the Internet. The Unit received e-mail condolences from throughout the United States and Canada. These messages were provided to Ms. Moore's family.
Ms. Moore is survived by daughters Gia and Danielle, and by sons Clifford and Damon.
Ms. Moore was interned on May 11, 1998 at the Inglewood Park Cemetery. Uniformed Support Division personnel served as the pallbearers.
Ms. Moore touched everybody she came into contact with. Though she is missed terribly, she will not be forgotten.

Cynthia Valencia will be joining the Department, as a new employee, and the DRE Unit, as the new unit secretary, in late September or possibly early October, 1998.

If you have been busy, and out of touch with the DRE Unit, Officer Nina Serna transferred out of the DRE unit in June of 1997. Nina is working at background investigations.

The LAPD DRE Unit's web site continues to grow in size and use. The LAPD DRE Unit launched a web site in March of 1997. The site is accessed worldwide by the "DRE community". The site has over 500 pages of information and continues to lead as the primary online resource for DRE information. The web site has a new shortened URL, http://www.dre.org. It is currently on the City server, but will most likely be moved before January 1999. All DREs are encouraged to visit the site to see what is new with the DRE program.

There is a new DRE Final Knowledge Examination. This is the written test that the DRE students take at least one month after graduation from DRE School. The new examination has two more sections, for a total of five sections. If you are going to administer the final knowledge examination, drop by the unit and get a copy of the new test.

At this time, the best information from NHTSA and IACP is that the new manuals for the DRE School should be available by the end of 1998. The Pre-School, DRE School and DRE Instructor School courses are updated with new student manuals, instructor manuals and overheads. There should also be power point presentations available for all three courses. The SFST School was updated in October 1995 and was not included.

The Notice to LAPD SID Chemist, "tox slip", has been updated. The methamphetamine and amphetamine screens have been combined. Also, you may remember that the methaqualone test was eliminated about a year ago. Contact us if you don't have a copy of the updated form. Please copy it and distribute it to all of the DREs in your Area.

As 1998 comes to a close and we get ready for 1999, it would be a good time to update your DRE instructor biographical sketch, the one page instructor biography that we hand out the last day of DRE School. After you update your instructor biography, put it on a disk and mail it to the DRE Unit, mail stop #923. Also, this would be a good time to send us a copy of your updated rolling log.

The LAPD DRE Unit needs help locating potential volunteer participants for our alcohol workshops in late 1998 and 1999. We will be conducting nine alcohol workshops in 1999 and five alcohol workshops in the final months of 1998. If you know of anybody interested in participating in our alcohol workshops, please contact Officer Kathy Hill at the DRE Unit, 485-8565. To assist in your search for volunteer participants we have the dates of the alcohol workshops listed below.

The alcohol workshops are normally held from 1400 hours to 2100 hours. The volunteers need to arrive at 1400 hours for check-in, which includes the preliminary vital signs examination and the pre-dosing questionnaire. The volunteers are dosed from 1500 until 1830 hours. From 1900 hours until 2015 hours the student DREs administer SFST examinations on the volunteers, and that is followed by a 45 minute wrap-up session. The volunteers participate in the wrap-up session. At 2100 hours the volunteers are released to a sober friend, or are driven home. Please encourage your volunteers to solicit and secure a sober "designated driver".

Tuesday, November 3, 1998

Friday November 6, 1998

Wednesday, November 11, 1998

Tuesday, December 1, 1998

Thursday, December 3, 1998

Tuesday, January 26, 1999

Friday, January 29, 1999

Wednesday, February 3, 1999

Tuesday, April 20, 1999

Thursday, April 22, 1999

Tuesday, July 13, 1999

Thursday, July 15, 1999

Tuesday, October 12, 1999

Friday, October 15, 1999

Wednesday, October 20, 1999

Tuesday, November 9, 1999

Thursday, November 11, 1999

The Los Angeles Police Department Drug Recognition Expert Unit expresses their heartfelt gratitude and acknowledges the support of those LAPD DRE Instructors who taught this year, 1998.

Officer Joey Bailey

Officer Andrew Barboza

Officer Robert Casteel

Officer John Dalby

Sergeant Gary Fredo

Officer William Heard

Officer Robert Hinshaw

Officer Clark John

Officer Lawrence Jones

Officer Tim Kay

Officer Richard Kellogg

Senior PSR Spence Leafdale

Detective Blair McCormack

Officer Fritz McDowell

Sergeant Steven Nielsen

Officer David Peteque

Specialist Reserve Michele Sapper

Detective George Shake

Officer Bryce Spafford

Officer Kevin Standage

Sergeant William Suddeth

Sergeant Gary Tetzlaff

Officer Jesse Valle

Officer Mark Winter

Officer James Wirth