West Hartford Cop Gets 'Drug Recognition Expert' Status: WHPD

WEST HARTFORD, CT — With recreational cannabis now legal in Connecticut, local police's efforts to enforce driving under the influence offenses are that much more difficult.

That's because, these days, motorists are almost as likely to be driving high as well as drunk.

But the West Hartford Police Department recently announced that one of their own has completed one of the police work's most difficult designations en route toward that end.

WHPD Officer Jeffrey Swank is the department's first-ever "Drug Recognition Expert," earning that designation after a rigorous course the department said "is one of the most difficult courses to take as a law enforcement officer."

A DRE is a police expert specially trained to recognize the impairment of drivers under the influence of drugs other than and, in addition to, alcohol.

Such training is becoming more and more necessary in law enforcement sectors as more people are likely engaging in legalized, recreational cannabis usage.

Earlier this year, a Hartford teenager who police said was high on pot crashed into a Hartford Police Department vehicle, killing the officer inside.

West Hartford police said, to receive his designation, Swank had to undertake both 72 hours of classroom time, with 32 hours of "practical field skills."

From Sept. 21: 'Teen Driver In Crash That Killed Hartford Cop Smoked Pot: State Police'