In May, Westchester County's Stop-DWI Office began a two-week program to train police officers. The program was launched by County Executive Andy Spano and District Attorney Janet DiFiore. 

Other participants were state Sen. Nicholas Spano, who helped secure the money to fund the program, County Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Belfiore, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen M. Rice, Bronxville Police Chief Brian Downey (president of the Westchester County Chiefs of Police Association) and an assistant district attorney from the Bronx.

“Our police officers have long had the know-how to assess a motorist for drunk driving,” Spano said. “With this course they will learn how to make a similar assessment of a driver who may be impaired by drugs. This training is important and will make our roads safer. No longer will an individual be able to mask his use of drugs by drinking a small amount of alcohol.”

The program (to train DREs -- Drug Recognition Experts) was developed by the Los Angeles Police Department and later given the support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The training places heavy emphasis on skill development and student proficiency.

By interpreting signs and symptoms, a DRE can assess a person for possible use of drugs. Drug evaluation includes checks of the eyes, psychophysical impairments, vital signs, muscle tone. These techniques will be demonstrated by the instructors.

Those officers who attend the course will be on call to come to the scene if a patrol officer stops a vehicle where there is reason to think the driver is impaired by drugs. Today there are approximately 4,000 DREs worldwide, including in 32 states and Australia, Canada, Germany and Sweden.

Funding for the program comes from the county’s STOP-DWI program and the Governors Highway Traffic Safety Committee, as well as the state grant obtained by Sen. Spano.