DES MOINES – An Iowa State Patrol trooper who has conducted over 500 evaluations on drivers suspected of drug or alcohol impairment will be honored this week.
Iowa officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau will hold a press conference on Thursday, July 2, 2015, at 10:30 AM to recognize Trooper Marc Griggs, a 22 year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol, for what they call a major milestone in the fight against drugged driving in Iowa. Griggs has conducted over 500 Drug Recognition Expert Evaluations (DRE) across central Iowa—the first ever in Iowa to reach that threshold.
A drug recognition expert or drug recognition evaluator (DRE) is a police officer trained to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol.
The DRE protocol is a standardized and systematic method of examining a Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) suspect to determine the following: (1) whether or not the suspect is impaired; if so, (2) whether the impairment relates to drugs or a medical condition; and if drugs, (3) what category or combination of categories of drugs are the likely cause of the impairment. The process is systematic because it is based on a complete set of observable signs and symptoms that are known to be reliable indicators of drug impairment. A DRE never reaches a conclusion based on any one element of the evaluation, but instead on the totality of facts that emerge.
