(HE)
NEW AT FIVE - DRUGGED
DRIVING.
THE OPIOID CRISIS IS NOT
ONLY HITTING HOME...
IT'S HITTING THE ROAD.
(MM)
WE'RE SEEING A
DISTURBING NUMBER OF
INCIDENTS WHERE POLICE
ARE ARRESTING DRIVERS
UNDER THE INFLUENCE...
OF HEROIN.
MANY OF THEM - CAUGHT
SHOOTING UP - BEHIND
THE WHEEL.
SO WE WANTED TO
KNOW---- WHAT LAW
ENFORCEMENT IS DOING
TO TRY AND COMBAT THIS
DANGEROUS TREND.
(HE)
EYEWITNESS NEWS
REPORTER PATRICK
LITTLE SAT DOWN WITH
ONE OF RHODE ISLAND
STATE POLICE'S DRUG
RECOGNITION EXPERTS
TO LEARN MORE.
WE'VE BEEN TRACKING THE
OPIOID EPIDEMIC FOR YEARS
NOW...
A DISTURBING AND DEADLY
TREND IN ITSELF...
AND NOW WE'RE SEEING EVEN
MORE TROUBLING BEHAVIOR...
ADDICTS SO DESPERATE FOR A
FIX - THAT THEY'RE DOING
DRUGS WHILE DRIVING.
HEROIN USE KNOWS NO
BOUNDS - IT'S TRANSCENDED
INCOME LEVEL, RACE, GENDER,
AND AGE...
LEAVING BEHIND DISTURBING
IMAGES LIKE THIS...
POLICE IN OHIO RELEASED
THESE PICTURES OF TWO
FAMILY MEMBERS WHO
OVERDOSED IN A CAR - WITH A
FOUR-YEAR-OLD IN THE
BACKSEAT.
IN JUST THE PAST FEW
MONTHS...
INCIDENTS OF DRUGGED
DRIVING HAVE BEEN REPORTED
IN RICHMOND...
PORTSMOUTH...
AND NEW BEDFORD...
JUST TO NAME A FEW.
Traveling south on Route 4
observed a vehicle swerving all
over
the road EDIT
Activated my lights and sirens,
stopped the vehicle, upon
contact I
saw a male operator with his
sleeved rolled up, his left
sleeve
rolled up, and a needle in his
arm.
JG: Actively injecting heroin.
PL: While driving?
JG: While driving
JOHN GADROW IS 1 OF 7 RHODE
ISLAND STATE TROOPERS WHO
ARE DRUG RECOGNITION
EXPERTS - OR D-R-E's - A
SELECT GROUP OF OFFICERS
HIGHLY TRAINED TO RECOGNIZE
ALL SIGNS OF IMPAIRMENT.
"That DEC program is a lengthy
course...its over 80 hours in
the
classroom and 40 hours in the
field...with a large 6 hour
comprehensive exam...upon
passing that you become a DRE."
A D-R-E IS USUALLY CALLED IN
AFTER A PERSON GETS PULLED
OVER FOR SUSPICION OF
DRIVING UNDER THE
INFLUENCE...
AND THE INITIAL FIELD
SOBRIETY TEST DOESN'T
REVEAL EVIDENCE OF
SIGNIFICANT ALCOHOL USE.
THE D-R-E ON DUTY RESPONDS
TO THE SCENE OR MEETS THE
SUSPECT AT THE BARRACKS TO
CONDUCT A MORE THOROUGH
EXAM.
"Blood pressures, pupil
measurements, body temperatures,
any tremors, track marks, any
visual
signs or other impairment."
"So we do a detailed eye
examination. The eyes are the
window to the soul, right?"
"For example stimulants -
normally
dialate the eye - make it very
big
make the pupil very very big.
Where
heroin constricts the eye when
it
makes your pupil almost like
pinpoints alright? So huge
drastic
differences there right.
Marijuana
dialates the eye - their pupils
are
usually blown out."
THE ENTIRE EXAM IS A TWELVE
STEP PROCESS...
AT THE END THE SUSPECT IS
ALSO ASKED TO AGREE TO A
BLOOD TEST.
Would you say at this point ..
the
state of RI is ahead of this?
"I wouldn't say that we are
ahead of
it...but i'd say we are
ready..."
TROOPERS ARE ALSO
GROWING INCREASINGLY
CONCERNED ABOUT PEOPLE
DRIVING UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF MARIJUANA...
MASSACHUSETTS JUST
LEGALIZED THE DRUG'S
RECREATIONAL USE.
AFTER WASHINGTON STATE DID
THAT - THE NUMBER OF FATAL
ACCIDENTS RELATED TO POT
MORE THAN DOUBLED.
NOW - DRUGGED
DRIVING.
ON EYEWITNESS NEWS AT
FIVE---- WE TOLD YOU
ABOUT DRUG
RECOGNITION EXPERTS...
(HE)
THEY'RE HIGHLY-TRAINED
LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICERS THAT CAN
RECOGNIZE THE SIGNS
THAT SOMEONE COULD BE
DRIVING UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF DRUGS.
NEW AT SIX - WE'RE
TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT
WHERE THESE OFFICERS
GO TO GET THEIR
TRAINING.
(MM)
EYEWITNESS NEWS
REPORTER PATRICK
LITTLE HAS MORE.
NOT EVERY MEMBER OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT WHO APPLIES
TO BECOME A D-R-E - MAKES IT
INTO THE PROGRAM.
CANDIDATES ARE CAREFULLY
SELECTED AND TRAINED...
THEN HAVE TO PASS A
COMPREHENSIVE, SIX-HOUR
TEST.
"I would say now that I'm better
at
recognizing somebody under the
influence of drugs than i was
before..."
TROOPER JOHN GADROW IS A
CERTIFIED DRUG RECOGNITION
EXPERT. HE IS ONE OF 7 STATE
TROOPERS WHO HAVE
UNDERGONE THE PROGRAM'S
80 HOURS OF CLASSROOM
TRAINING AND 40 HOURS OF
FIELD WORK.
"We actually send everybody, all
our
students to Arizona to do it.
And the
reason why we send them to
Arizona is we send them to
Maricopa County Jail.
"At that central facility we
have the
ability to interview the
detainees and
we get a broader spectrum of
drugs
than we would if we just worked
here."
HERE - TROOPERS SEE A LOT
OF MARIJUANA, COCAINE AND
HEROIN.
OUT WEST - THERE'S ALSO
CRYSTAL METH, M-D-M-A, MOLLY
AND P-C-P.
RHODE ISLAND ISN'T THE ONLY
STATE SENDING LAW
ENFORCEMENT TO THIS JAIL
FOR TRAINING.
"we're lucky that they allow us
to do
that. When we go there, we have
classes from Rhode Island there,
classes from Massachusetts
there,
classes from California there.
Classes from Canada come down."
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
THINGS THEY ALL LEARN IS
HOW TO CONDUCT A 12-STEP
EVALUATION PROCESS.
WHEN ALCOHOL ISN'T PRESENT
ON A BREATHALYZER TEST...
BUT THE DRIVER STILL SEEMS
IMPAIRED...
A D-R-E CAN BE CALLED IN TO
PERFORM THE STANDARDIZED
EXAM.
SOME OF THOSE STEPS
INCLUDE AN EYE
EXAMINATION...
DIVIDED ATTENTION
PSYCHOPHYSICAL TESTS...
EXAMINATION FOR MUSCLE
TONE...
AND A TOXICOLOGICAL EXAM.
"before I would see impairment
and
not know what I was looking at
because I'd get all zeros. And
maybe in the past, you know a
decade or two beforehand, we
would let that individual go. Or
we
would give them a ride home. Now
we have officers that are
recognizing that person's
probably
under the influence of drugs and
we're able to successfully
prosecute
them for drugged driving."
DRIVING UNDER THE
INFLUENCE INCLUDES ALCOHOL
OR DRUG IMPAIRMENT - OR
BOTH.
IN 2015 - STATE POLICE MADE
513 D-U-I ARRESTS...
SIXTY-SIX PERCENT OF THOSE
SUSPECTS WERE CONVICTED.
STATE POLICE SAY THIS IS - IN
PART - DUE TO CASES THAT
HAVE BEEN EXPUNGED,
SEALED OR ARE STILL PENDING.
PL, EWN.