In 1995, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police hosted the first Canadian DRE School in British Columbia. (See prior blog entry.) After successfully completing the classroom phase of the training, students entered into the certification phase of the training. Much of the certification training was conducted in Los Angeles at the Parker Center jail. Many of the Canadian officers wore their local uniforms while they conducted evaluations. As you can imagine, more than one intoxicated suspect expressed surprise that he was now in Canada! And in typical police humour (Canadian spelling), we posted the Canadian Maple Leaf flag next to the breath testing instruments!

This picture, which includes me on the right, was taken in front of Parker Center, more formally known as the Police Administration Building. This facility, known to suspects and good-guys alike as “The Glass House,” was closed in October of this year. At this writing, the jail remains temporarily open until a new jail is ready for full occupancy (hopefully!). As one wag said, “A full jail is a happy jail.”

The Canadian officers took the “Systematic and Standardized” DRE mantra to heart. As an example, the Canadian officers began giving “Miranda” warnings to suspects in Canada! When I reminded the officers that “Miranda” was an American procedure, one Canadian officer told me that because of the infiltration of American television north of the border, all Canadians know about “Miranda,” and that suspects routinely ask officers to “read me my rights."