Police officers have extensive training and experience in catching and helping convict people of driving while impaired by alcohol or other drugs. But did you know that you can adapt some of the same techniques that police use to help your supervisors identify drug and alcohol abuse by your own employees? Thomas Page, a former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) drug recognition expert, shared some thoughts with me about how.

Conversation with a Suspect

To illustrate some examples of techniques police officers are trained to use when they suspect drivers to be impaired by alcohol and drugs, consider the following scenario:

A police officer watches a driver make a rolling stop at a STOP sign, turn right without signaling and accelerate rapidly. Activating his vehicle's emergency lights, the officer pursues the driver and both vehicles pull over along the side of the road.

"Good evening, sir. May I see your driver's license and registration please."

As the nervous driver reaches for his papers in the glove compartment, the policeman asks a seemingly casual question while shining his light on the car's dashboard. "Is this one of those new Chargers?"

The driver pauses in mid-reach and says, "Yeah, and it's got the Hemi engine. Zero to 60 in under..."

"Five seconds," interrupts the cop. "Remember, your license and registration please."

The Tip-Off

While the driver might experience a temporary sense of relief when the officer's attention turns to the car and away from him, this short conversation dramatically raises the cop's suspicions that the driver is impaired.

Why? Sober drivers would likely have no trouble bragging about their car while continuing to fetch their license and registration from the glove compartment. But this driver paused. Page explains that people impaired by alcohol and drugs have a diminished ability to multitask. While boasting about his car, the driver momentarily forgets that he's been asked to produce his license and registration. And the police officer is trained to recognize this subtle action as a sign of impairment.

A New Sobriety Test

The police officer informs the driver that he is being investigated for probable driving under the influence and asks him to get out of the vehicle and perform a few tests.

Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, such as walking a straight line heel-to-toe or reciting the alphabet, have been around for decades. But the officer, who is trained in drug recognition practices, has a newer test up his sleeve.

Upon first approaching the driver, the officer observed that his eyes were bloodshot - a sign of alcohol or drug impairment. Now it's time to check further. Using a flashlight and a pencil, the policeman observes the driver's eyes while asking him to track the sideways movement of the pencil. He's looking for nystagmus, an involuntary, rapid jerking of the eyeballs that commonly occurs in people who have been drinking or taking certain drugs.

Nystagmus is apparent in this driver. The officer now has probable cause to conduct further tests, including a blood test. These tests confirm that the driver is impaired by both alcohol and drugs. He is charged and convicted. Game, set, match.

Conclusion

Next week, we'll discuss how you and your supervisors can employ some of the same methods the police use to determine if employees you suspect are impaired actually are and how to respond if your suspicions are confirmed.

WAKE-UP CALL

For Drowsy Drivers

By Ted Morrison

As highways in North America and around the world become more crowded and dangerous, consumers are looking to electronics for the future of driver safety.

Now comes news of a system that monitors where drivers are looking as they drive. Current systems rely on a camera that senses head movement, but the new one looks at the positions of the driver's eyelids as well.

If a driver is dozing behind the wheel and the system determines that a crash is possible, the safety system can make a sound, flash a light or jerk the seatbelt to awaken the driver. If a crash seems likely, the brakes will apply in pulses to slow the car and wake the sleeper. If a crash is unavoidable, the system will apply the brakes and engage seatbelts.

Toyota and Nissan are both working on such systems, although neither has said when they expect to have one in production.

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