By Matt
Pascarella
Last
month, Sergeant Raymond Williams of the Windham Police Department was
recognized by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for his 25+ years of service
as a certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE). There were seven officers,
including Sergeant Williams, recognized in Maine. Each officer was recognized
for their exceptional work in evaluating 100 or more drug impaired drivers
during their career. Sergeant Williams has evaluated 130 impaired drivers.
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| Sergeant Raymond Williams |
A DRE
is a police officer trained to recognize impairment in drivers under the
influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol.
In the
late 1980s, standardized field sobriety tests to test for alcohol were brought
into Maine. These tests were based off standardized practices that all officers
across the country were required to use. The tests determine the top three ways
to obtain information regarding a person’s impairment. This included the
horizontal eye test (involuntary jerks of the eyes), the walk and turn test as
well as the standing on one leg test.
Although
these standardized tests work well to identify drunk driving, it was discovered
that many who were impaired drivers were not impaired by alcohol, and therefore
could not be arrested.
As a
result, the International Chiefs of Police Association and the Bureau of
Highway Safety brought the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program into the
state of Maine in the early 1990s, incorporating instructors who had been
through the DRE program.
Sergeant
Williams knew how frustrating it was to have contact with a person who was
clearly under the influence of something, but either had no alcohol or not
enough alcohol in their system to be a crime. There was no mechanism to
prosecute such people in the late 1980s/early 1990s. So, when the DRE program
came to the State of Maine, the Legislature had to add wording into the
regulations that stated it was against the law to be under the influence of
alcohol and/or any other substance.
“I saw the
end result of people operating under the influence,” Williams said. “I wanted
to do what I could to get those people off the streets.”
Sergeant
Williams became a certified DRE through the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.
This included being certified on the standardized field sobriety testing, taking
the drug evaluation classification program as well as participation in a two-week
DRE school. The program included mock and/or actual evaluations and written
testing. To be DRE certified, you also need to be knowledgeable about various
types of drugs.
Sergeant
Williams, who grew up in Cumberland, went to Southern Maine Community College and
got an associate degree. After college, he worked in Windham as a reserve
police officer in the summer of 1985 and was hired full time in the summer of 1986.
He attended the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in 1987.
Sergeant
Williams has been on the department for 33 years and would like to pass on his
knowledge until retirement. He manages a firearms program and began the
motorcycle unit in 1998 which is still in use today.
