First DRE School out of California, July 1988

In July of 1988, Phoenix, Arizona (hotel rates are quite reasonable in July!) hosted the first DRE school held outside of California.  The school was held at the Pointe at Squaw Peak.  This picture includes this landmark school's instructors and students.  Jack Oates, wearing white slacks in the front row, was the NHTSA representative.  Jack created the schedule and made instructor assignments.  I am to Jack's right, next to Dick Studdard. 

September 1987 NHTSA press release announces expansion of DRE

On September 29, 1987, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole announced grants to the LAPD and to the IACP to expand the DRE program out of Los Angeles.  The grants were announced in this NHTSA press release.  In July of 1988 the first DRE school to be held out of Southern California was conducted in Phoenix, Arizona.

1987 Los Angeles DRE School - first to use NHTSA curriculum

This is a picture of the students and instructors who participated in the 1987 DRE school in Los Angeles. I'm pretty certain that this was the first DRE school that used the new NHTSA curriculum. The class was held at the Los Angeles Armory near the LAPD Academy. Many famous DREs are in this picture. Dick Studdard is in the middle of the front row. I am to Dick's left. On my left is Mike Murray and then Art Haversat. To Dick's right is Gary Tetzlaff, Bob Hohn (now with NHTSA), and City of Los Angeles psychologist (and DRE instructor), Patrick Prince.  Joe Klima, now a Phoenix PD Commander, is in the 2nd row, third from the left. Cliff Vanell (Phoenix Prosecutor's Office) is directly behind Joe.

First DRE Instructor School

Here is a class photo of the very first DRE Instructor's school. Jack Oates from NHTSA (3rd from the left, 1st row) was the lead. I am to Jack's right. Dick Studdard missed the picture as he had a meeting. I'm pretty sure the date of the picture was early 1987.

A number of famous DREs are in this picture, including Clarence Metcalfe, Greg Nichols, Gary Tetzlaff, Art Haversat, Mike Murray, Phil Rodriguez, Jim Stoney, Bill Walker, Milt Dodge, Craig Peters, Sonny Medina, Tom Page (all LAPD), Steve McAndrews (Long Beach PD), Tom Winterstein, Doug Paquette, Al Brown (all New York State Police), Derald Gautier, John Burbach (both Denver PD), Bob Sparks, Joe Klima (both Phoenix PD), Mike Hayes (Nassau County PD), Ken Clark (Virginia State Police), Ken Lantaigne (Virginia Beach PD), Rob Bustrum (Boulder, CO, PD, Scotty Coulimore (Colorado State Patrol), John Rydel (California Highway Patrol), and others.

The purpose of the class was to introduce us to the first NHTSA DRE curricula package. All LAPD instructors had already completed instructor development courses sponsored by the LAPD. This class picture was taken at the Long Beach, CA, Police Academy. The LBPD hosted this course. Enjoy.

173 case study participants

DREs know about the significance of the landmark 173 case study, formally known as the Los Angeles Field Validation Study. The study was conducted in 1985 by Dr. Marcelline Burns of the Southern California Research Institute, the Los Angeles Police Department, NHTSA and the Governor's (California) Office of Traffic Safety. But who were the officers involved in actually doing the study? This picture of the study's participants was taken at an LAPD awards ceremony on February 4, 1987. The study's participants were awarded the Police Meritorious Unit Citation for "...outstanding service by members functioning as a team." Chief Daryl Gates is seated in the middle. To his right is Hollywood actor Richard Anderson. To the Chief's left is Dick Studdard. I am in the back row, second from the right.

The recipients of the Police Meritorious Unit Citation are:
Lt. Daniel Watson, Sergeant Richard Studdard, Sergeant Arthur Haversat, Sergeant Jerry Powell, Sergeant Thomas Page, Sergeant Jeffrey Siggers, Sergeant Leslie Wilbanks, Officer Joeseph Beck, Officer Patricia Russell, Officer Robert Carlson, Officer Larry Ferrel, Officer David Gray, Officer Ian Hall, Officer John Hone, Officer Don Hutchingson, Officer Clark John, Officer Robert Karlstrom, Officer Baron Laetzsch, Officer Charles "Doug" Laird, Officer Ralph McComb, Officer Michael Murray, Officer Eugene Nabonne, Officer Scott Sherman, Officer Gary Sidell, Officer James Stoney, Officer John Tanner, Officer Geoffrey Taylor, Officer Arvin Turner, Officer Larry Voelker, Officer Michael Widder, and Officer Richard Zielinski. 

Of course, this study could not have been done without the continued cooperation of the drug users themselves!

DRE Flashback: Certification

DRE Flashback: Certification.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police issues certification credentials for Drug Recognition Experts. The actual certification comes from the state/provincial coordinator. But it wasn't always like this. Before the IACP became the credentialing body for DREs, DREs were certified by the Los Angeles Police Department. In fact, the first Arizona DREs (Bob Hohn, Bob Holliday, Bob Sparks and John Patla) were initially certified by the LAPD. Prior to the LAPD issuing certification, Los Angeles DREs were certified by the Prosecution Division of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. A list of officers who had completed drug influence training was submitted to the City Attorney's Office, accompanied by complete resumes. The City Attorney's office then compiled a list of officers that were "certified," and used this list to determine which officers they would be willing to attempt to qualify as experts in court. Once qualified as an expert in court, the officer was considered to be a  "court-qualified expert."  So, as you can see, the DRE program has a long history of working closely with prosecutors.