Michael J. Nichols

In The News

Thursday, May 10, 2012

DRE PROGRAM IN MINNESOTA IN TROUBLE: EAST LANSING ATTORNEY MIKE NICHOLS COMMENTS ON ALLEGATIONS AGAINST POLICE OFFICER

By Michael Nichols
Categories: Michael J. Nichols

 

Drug Recognition Evaluator program in Minnesota has been suspended pending an investigation into allegations that DRE officers gave drugs to protestors to gain information. “The officers are entitled to be presumed innocent just like anyone else,” says OWI-OUID attorney Mike Nichols of East Lansing. Nichols adds: “my biggest concern about DRE remains that the officers are trained on how to make a medical diagnosis based on training that has never been validated by peer-reviewed studies of the techniques and procedures.”
 
Coverage of the story, courtesy of KMSP:
  
MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has
suspended its drug recognition training program and the Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension has launched a criminal investigation into allegations a
Hutchinson police officer provided marijuana to a potential subject.
 
Last week, Occupy Minnesota protesters claimed officers gave them drugs and
watched them get high. The protesters first made the allegations public in
a YouTube video, saying officers from out-state came to downtown
Minneapolis and asked them to take part in the drug training program.
 
FOX 9 caught up with one of those protesters at the Occupy protest on
Peavey Plaza. When asked whether the officer supplied him with drugs,
Michael Bounds replied, "Yes."
 
"They gave me a quarter of marijuana in exchange for me to tell them what's
going on with Occupy," he said.
 
DPS said in a statement Wednesday that an officer from another law
enforcement agency allegedly witnessed the activity. The officer, who was
also participating in drug recognition training, reported the incident to
the Minnesota State Patrol.
 
Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman has called for an internal
affairs investigation of the program to determine if any agency policies or
procedures were violated.
 
"Training law enforcement officers to detect drug impairment helps to keep
our roads safe, but we need to ensure that all participants follow
guidelines and operate within the law," Dohman said. "I have suspended the
drug recognition evaluator training pending the outcome of these
investigations and until we revisit and review the curriculum for the
program."
 
"We haven't found any evidence or any indication any illegal drugs were
provided to anyone," State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske told FOX 9 last week.
"Other than allegations made in the video, which were not supported by any
video evidence, we did not find anything to substantiate any of those
allegations."
 
The drug evaluation and classification (DEC) training program shows
officers how to detect and remove drug-impaired drivers from the road. An
officer who completes this training is certified as a drug recognition
evaluator.
 
Currently 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada participate in
the DEC program.
 
Minnesota's program has been managed by the State Patrol since its
inception in 1991. There are 197 DRE officers in Minnesota representing 92
agencies.

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Peer Recognition

Mike Nichols is a national leader in drunk driving defense. He is a member of the Forensic Committee and Michigan delegate to the National College for DUI Defense. He is also a Sustaining Member of the College. Nichols is also a founding member of the Michigan Association of OWI Attorneys; a member of the American Chemical Society; an associate member of he American Academy of Forensic Science, Adjunct Professor of Forensic Evidence in Criminal Law and OWI Law and Practice at Cooley Law School. He is also author of the West OWI Practice book and several chapters in other books on science and the law.

Mike Nichols is recognized by his peers in Michigan as a “SuperLawyer” in DUI/Criminal Defense. Nichols has also been asked to speak at conferences by groups such as the NCDD; Various Bar Associations in other states.