First Canadian DRE School, 1995, Students

In my estimation, this landmark school would not have happened were it not for the relentless perseverance of Wayne Jeffery.  Wayne, an eminent Royal Canadian Mounted Police toxicologist based in British Columbia, laid the groundwork for this class by working directly with the LAPD DRE Unit.  Wayne attended the full DRE class in Los Angeles in 1991. 

I served as the lead instructor for this school.  The instructors were chosen not only for their knowledge, but for their ability to adapt the curricula to the Canadian legal environment.  For example, we converted the measurements used in the DRE process to the metric system.  Constitutional and Charter Rights issues also required some curricula adaptation.

This class picture, including instructors Rob Bustrum, Clark John, and me, was taken inside the RCMP training facility.  Canadian DRE coordinator Evan Graham is to Clark John's right.  Evan later became the chair of the DRE Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the regulating body for the DRE program.  Some of the other students pictured are toxicologists Heather Dinn, Jeff Coughlin, Mike Anselin and Rick Ulrich, constables Beth Blackburn, Doug Ferguson, Jim Paquette and Paul Milne.

New York Times covers DRE in 1989

On September 25, 1989 the New York Times published an article about the growing problem of drugged-driving.  The article included a discussion about the merits of the Drug Recognition Expert program.  The graphic for the article showed LAPD Motor Officer and DRE Instructor Ray Messerly as he conducted a pupil size examination on me.  Officer Steve Davey of the Glendale, CA, PD is to my right.  Ray Messerly, who was my LAPD academy classmate, was killed in an on-duty traffic crash on October 22, 1992.  Ray's picture is included in the "Roll Call" which takes place at the annual DRE conference.

First Canadian DRE School, 1995, Instructor cadre

In October of 1995 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Vancouver, B.C. hosted the first DRE school held outside of the United States.  This school used the accelerated format developed by the LAPD DRE Unit.  It combined the SFST course, DRE pre-school and the DRE school itself into a unified 10-day course.  This picture shows the instructor cadre in front of the Fairmont Academy.  From left to right: Bryan Schafer (Minneapolis PD), Clark John (LAPD), Clarence Metcalfe (LAPD), Rob Bustrum (Boulder, CO, PD), Wayne Jeffery (Toxicologist, RCMP), Thomas Page (LAPD), Douglas Paquette (New York State Police), Steve Willis (Glendale, AZ, PD), and Arthur Haversat (LAPD).

First DRE Checklist - from 173 case study

DREs use a 12 step checklist to conduct the drug influence evaluation. The checklist helps to ensure standardization of the process. The first checklist, however, consisted of 21 steps! This checklist was created to conduct the landmark 1985 173 case study, formally titled the Los Angeles Field Validation Study. This checklist was developed with the oversight of Marcelline Burns, Ph.D, the director of the Southern California Research Institute. As you can see, the DRE procedures, including terminology, have changed since this study was conducted.