Three police officers will receive drug recognition training after a man who lost his wife in a wreck began to seek changes in the department.
By KELLEY BENHAM
Published May 27, 2003
LARGO - John Makas Jr. scattered his wife's ashes and started a crusade.
Makas' wife, Judith Ann, died after a car wreck three years ago. She was hit by a teenager thought to be high on ecstasy, but police never proved it and the driver was acquitted.
Since then, Makas has waged a campaign to persuade the Largo Police Department to train its officers on how to better recognize drug-impaired drivers. And this month, Chief Lester Aradi assured him that three officers will get the training this year.
"I want to make my wife's death mean something," Makas said.
Officers investigating Mrs. Makas' wreck did not have the drug recognition training. Police say it would not have made a difference in her case. Officers expected her to live, so they did not investigate the scene as a traffic homicide. They made other blunders, and an officer eventually resigned.
But the training will help the three officers recognize the effects of drugs that have become more common in recent years.
"When the rave thing came on and kids started doing ecstasy and things like that, they were a little tougher to detect," said Deputy Chief John Carroll. Some drugs can be consumed in clear liquids with no odor, for example.
"We're going to send someone to the training just to fill that void," Carroll said.
Officers rely on their ability to detect abnormal behavior - swerving, driving too slow, leaving headlights off - when they declare a driver impaired, Carroll said. The signs are similar for drug use, old age and fatigue, he said.
"The true test is always the officer's opinion about behavior," he said. "Every cop knows a drunk or someone impaired when they see one."
But any training is good for the department, he said. Officers will probably get the new training locally through the Sheriff's Office, he said.
Makas says the department has improved in a number of ways in the years since his wife's death. It now has a traffic investigation team and communicates better with other agencies, he said.
He plans to start pushing other state and national agencies to get the drug recognition training, he said.
"I don't want anyone else to go through what I went through," he said.
