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2023 Courses of Instruction

DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERT (DRE)

  • April 10-21, 2023

Prerequisite: Must have a minimum of three years experience as a law enforcement officer, and have a minimum of 36 career DWI arrests, or if less than 3 years experience, must have a minimum of 72 career DWI arrests.  The candidate must have attended an ARIDE training course within the last three years prior to applying.   Additionally, all DRE candidates must be proficient in administering standardized field sobriety tests (SFST), and active in DWI enforcement.  Candidates must provide a letter of support from their agency head or DRE coordinator and two recent driving while intoxicated reports, which have been adjudicated.

Course Description:  This very intense, advanced course is designed to enable participants to determine whether observed driver impairment is due to drug use other than alcohol, and if so, to identify the category or categories of drugs inducing the observable signs of impairment.  The curriculum involves a three-phase training process:

Phase I consists of a two-day (16-hour) preschool.  During this preschool, students become familiar with the techniques of the drug evaluation, and receive updated training on SFSTs.  Students also begin to learn the techniques and procedures for evaluating persons suspected of drug impairment.

Phase II is a seven-day (56-hour) classroom program, during which students receive detailed instruction in the techniques of the drug evaluation examination as well as in physiology, the effects of drugs, and legal considerations.  Upon completion of this phase of training, the student must pass a comprehensive written examination before proceeding to Phase III of training, the field certification.

The field certification portion of training follows completion of the classroom training. During this portion of the training, students, under the direction of certified instructors, evaluate subjects suspected of being impaired by drugs other than alcohol.  After participating in and documenting the results of at least twelve drug evaluations and completing a comprehensive examination, the student is certified as a Drug Recognition Expert.

NOTE:  Field certification nights will be held in additional to the 72 hours of classroom training.  These are mandatory, and scheduled at an out of state facility (pending site availability) for the following dates:

April 30 - May 8, 2023 in Philadelphia

Who Should Attend:

Officers who meet the prerequisite requirements, and voluntarily accept the responsibilities of a DRE, included call-outs, maintaining proper paperwork, and completing the minimum number of evaluations and training hours for recertification.

 NOTE:  Potential DRE candidates for this school must be approved by the course coordinator prior to enrollment.  Interested candidates must complete the separate DRE Candidate application and the DRE Commitment Pledge located on the Academy website, or contact the course coordinator via e-mail for an application. 

Application Deadlines: deadline for application is February 10, 2023.

Cost:

  • Funding is provided through a Highway Safety Grant for this training.  Students will be required to pay for their own meals during certification nights in Philadelphia.  All other costs will be covered.

Continuing Education Hours:

  • 34 hours of Skill Development
  • 34 hours of Technical Studies
  • 4 hours of Legal Studies

Mineral Area College Credit:

  • None
Coordinator:
  • Corporal Ryan Hutton
  • (573) 751-9943
  • ryan.hutton@mshp.dps.mo.gov.

For enrollment email applications go to:

TNDmail@mshp.dps.mo.gov

Application For Training