(WBNG Binghamton) Drugged driving arrests are up in New York State but not many officers in the state are trained to spot those offenders.
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) says drugged driving arrests in New York State have risen 35% since 2001 and prescription drug abuse is becoming epidemic in the state.
Drugged driving is driving under the influence of prescription or illegal, illicit drugs, says Sgt. Thomas Sienko, Broome County Sheriff's Office.
According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, there were a total of 2,248 drugged driving arrests in 2011 (not including those identified at the same time as an alcoholic related DWI stop). This is up from 1,669 in 2001. This represents a 35% increase.
In the Southern Tier, there were 90 drugged driving arrests in 2011. This is up from 87 in 2001. But this is very low in comparison to the number of DWI arrests each year.
"Every law enforcement officer gets trained in alcohol rated DWI's when they go through the police academy. However, drugged driving involving drugs is a specialized training. There's around 135 Drug Recognition Experts in the state of New York, so not everybody gets the training. These signs and symptoms may be different. If you haven't had the training regarding it, it's not as easy to pick out," said Sienko.
Sienko is one of only two DRE's in Broome County. He says he finds drugged driving to be a problem in the County.
"You always want to make the roadways a safe place to drive. It seems like there is an increase in prescription medicine, possibly abuse of that. Obviously, you have your illegal drugs as well," he explained.
Sienko says often times, drugged driving arrests come from erratic driving reports or car accidents. He says the testing for drugged driving is similar to DWI testing with the standard field sobriety test.
"However, there's different things we look for - pupil size, the way their eyes react to the light, blood pressure, pulse, body temperature. Something the stuff you can't control that happens to the body based on the drug they have ingested," he explained.
Senator Charles Schumer is pushing for legislation that would provide funding for add additional Drug Recognition Expert training for officers. The legislation would award grants to states for the purposes of increasing officer training to curb driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
'This would lead to safer roadways and more arrests. Officers would have the capability of making an arrest with the training at that point, as opposed to calling a drug recognition expert. Sheriff David Harder is a big supporter of the program. He'll send me to any local agency that requests me to come and do an evaluation for them, which I have for every agency in the county at this point," said Sienko.
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