Two Day Seminar

Course Description

There are literally thousands of abused substances. These substances range from the licit, such as alcohol and codeine, to the illicit, such as heroin. Even over-the-counter substances, such as appetite suppressants, may be abused. The abused drugs share the common feature of psychoactivity. That is, they have a primary effect on the Central Nervous System, which includes the brain and spinal cord.

Based largely on knowledge gleaned from the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) program, this session will provide a comprehensive overview of the observable effects of the drugs of abuse. Attendees will learn the seven sign and symptom based drug categories, including the typical effects. The effects include eye movement signs (nystagmus), pupillary size changes, the vital signs, and others. In addition, attendees will learn about the complicating factor of poly-drug (multiple) drug use.

This course will also provide a comprehensive overview of the DRE program, the DRE procedures, and DRE training, including the Standardized Field Sobriety Test. The DRE program and procedures were developed in order to enable officers to effectively identify, apprehend, and prosecute the drug-impaired driver. They have also been modified and adapted in order to assist other professionals in identifying the drug-impaired individual. For example, DRE procedures have been adapted by management and supervisory personnel to ensure a drug-free workplace.

This course will also include a comprehensive overview of the basics of effective courtroom testimony in DUI and in drug influence cases. It will include a discussion of the typical defense tactics that are designed to discredit the witness, as well as the form and content of questions posed during direct and cross examination.

Instructors

Thomas E. Page, the former Officer-in-Charge of the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Unit, is a 22-year veteran of the Los Angeles and Detroit police departments. Before undertaking a law enforcement career, Mr. Page served the Wayne County, Michigan Health Department for five years as a public health worker and supervisor.

Mr. Page has taught drug influence recognition and the behavioral indicators of drug use to a wide range of audiences. These audiences include the American Bar Association, Northwestern University Traffic Institute, the California Department of Mental Health, the Swedish National Police Federation in Stockholm, the Russian Procuracy Training Academy in Moscow, the Victoria Police in Melbourne, Australia, the Department of the Army, nurses, physicians, psychiatrists, toxicologists, and private industry.

Mr. Page frequently provides testimony in court on drug influence signs and symptoms, horizontal gaze nystagmus, and the standardized field sobriety test. He has been accepted as an expert in courts in California, Arizona, New York, Maryland, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, Nebraska and Florida.

Mr. Page has authored numerous articles on drug user detection techniques. His credits include "Police Chief" Magazine, "The Siren", "The DRE", the Victoria Australia Parliamentary Road Safety Committee Report, and the 1988 International Congress on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Oslo, Norway. He co-authored The Drug Information Handbook for the Criminal Justice Professional, published by Lexi-Comp in 1998.

He served as the first General Chairperson of the DRE Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and is a member of IACP's DRE Technical Advisory Panel. He is an advisory member of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science's Drugs and Driving Committee, and is a member of the National Safety Council's Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Psychology, and his Master of Arts degree in Urban Affairs from the University of Detroit.