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TRAFFIC PROGRAMSDrug Recognition Expert
In October of 1995, ICBC sponsored the training of approximately thirty police officers (from various municipal and RCMP departments in the Lower Mainland) in the field of Drug Recognition. This included five police officers from the Vancouver Police Department. This was the first course of its kind to be held in Canada. The intent of the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Program was to give police officers the skills to detect and prosecute drug impaired drivers. ICBC saw a need for this program because recent British Columbia studies indicated that impairment due to drugs was involved in 15-20% of all driver fatalities. So far the program has been extremely successful in taking drug impaired drivers off British Columbia's roads, thereby preventing the possibility of serious accidents. Hundreds of 24-hour driving prohibitions have been issued to drivers affected by drugs. Several Criminal Code charges for driving while impaired by drug have also been approved resulting in court convictions. Since 1995, fifteen of the original DRE's have become DRE Instructors. In March of 1998, another DRE Course was held in British Columbia, bringing the total number of DRE's to over fifty. The demand for DRE Training is growing across Canada. The Ontario Provincial Police wish to fund a course in Ontario and the Calgary Police have expressed a desire to be taught the program. Currently British Columbia has the only qualified instructors in Canada to teach the course. The ICBC Drugs and Driving Committee is working on effecting legislative changes at the provincial and federal level. A proposed Implied Consent Law would give police officers the tool to more effectively deal with the drug impaired driver. |
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