Drug Tests At The Road Side
Home Office Press Release
17 October 2007
Cheshire police has become the first force in the UK to set up a specialist unit to tackle drug driving in partnership with the fire service, local authority and Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT).
The Impaired Driving Unit has been training more than 200 officers in Field Impairment Testing (FIT) techniques, similar to sobriety tests used in the USA. They are roadside tests to establish whether drivers are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Drug driving carries the same penalties as drink driving, a possible £5,000 fine, up to 11 points on your licence and six months in jail, but is often ignored by motorists who are not aware of the risks.
The unit at Cheshire Constabulary will be based on a successful model used by Hampshire police but unlike Hampshire it will be the first in Britain to use other partners to ensure a more widespread approach.
PC Robbie Burns, one of the officers from the new unit, said:
"Cheshire Police are committed to a policy of education and enforcement.
This is why it is so important that we work with our partners to let road users know that drug driving is the evil twin of drink driving.
"The penalties are the same, the punishment is the same and more importantly the results of impaired driving through drugs are just as traumatic as drink driving.
"Together with the Cheshire Impaired Driving Group we are committed to tackling this issue directly and raising awareness of the growing problem which is making a major contribution to death and serious injury on our roads."
The new outfit will be run in conjunction with the Cheshire Impaired Driving Group, which is made up of experts from the emergency, drugs and probation services and recently paid for PC Burns and another officer to travel to America for an intense two-week training course.
PC Andy Taylor, from Macclesfield, and PC Burns, of Blacon, completed a 16 day session with the California Highway Patrol in September.
This included doing four gruelling overnight patrols in Oakland, California, which is renowned for its high number of crack cocaine users. After completing that element of the training, and a four hour exam, they are now the first fully qualified Drug Recognition Experts in the region.
PC Burns added:
"The training was just the start. Now we're back we face a number of significant challenges.
"The first step is to engage the partnership in providing resources and assistance to achieve the teams' objectives. More than two hundred Cheshire Police officers have already been trained in FIT techniques however the actual number of tests carried out remains low.
"This has to be improved because recent figures show that 71 per cent of people judged not to be impaired without testing proved to have drug levels indicative of drug misuse once they were tested.
"This indicates that the Police are regularly missing the opportunity to test drivers and riders just because their outward appearance does not give rise to concern."
The launch of the Impaired Driving Unit coincides with Not In My Neighbourhood Week, a national programme of action to crack down on anti-social behaviour.
Not In My Neighbourhood Week, from October 15 to 21, is part of the Home Office 'Changing Lives Making Communities Safer' campaign, which seeks to highlight what drugs and crime agencies are doing to tackle crime, drugs, anti-social behaviour and alcohol misuse in their areas, and the impact this is having.
Media queries to Andy Swanson on 0161 952 4506 or Michael Short on 0161 952 4508 or email Andy.Swanson@gnn.gsi.gov.uk or Michael.short@gnn.gsi.gov.uk