Sheriff's deputy training to be drug recognition expert

Identifying a drunken driver is difficult enough. One deputy is learning to recognize impairment from other drugs and illnesses as well.

By TIM GRANT

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 12, 2000

CARROLLWOOD -- In the wee hours of a Saturday morning, the red Ford Mustang caught the eye of a sheriff's deputy as it went over the center line and nearly hit other cars on northbound Interstate 275 near Bearss Avenue.

After being pulled over, the driver could not answer questions. His speech was slurred. His skin was sweaty and clammy. When asked to step out of the car, the 25-year-old bodybuilder fell flat on the pavement and passed out.

At first officers thought the man was faking, that he was actually drunk and trying to avoid a field sobriety test. But before long, Deputy Lloyd Hyder saw something on the floor of the car that changed his mind -- a plastic bottle of yellow liquid.

It was a relaxer for bodybuilders, sold in health stores under various names as an energizer or nutrient. But Hyder knew that when it goes into the body, it turns into the chemical gamma hydroxybutyrate, commonly known as GHB.

"Kids have taken this stuff and never woke up," Hyder said. "It slows down the respiratory system and the heart rate. It's like taking a big dose of depressants. Our whole attitude changed after we realized this.

"We had him taken to University Community Hospital, and five hours later he woke up. All the doctors and nurses said he could have died. Think about what might have happened if we had taken him to jail."

Most officers would not have made the connection. But Hyder is one of about 20 police officers in Florida training to be certified drug recognition experts. Hyder will be the first DRE at the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office.

When that happens, Hyder will be recognized officially as an expert in detecting motorists who are either mixing alcohol with other drugs or driving under the influence of non-alcohol related drugs.

Although it is not illegal for a person to have alcohol or drugs in his or her system, it is illegal to be impaired by those drugs while operating a motor vehicle.

Like the Mustang driver, many motorists who raise police suspicions of impairment don't necessarily have a blood-alcohol content above 0.08 percent, the level at which Florida law presumes impairment.

Currently in those cases, deputies take a urine sample and have it tested for drugs. A positive drug test is used as evidence, along with videotape, to support the deputies' testimony that the suspect failed the field soberity test and showed impaired behavior.

In future driving-under-the-influence prosecutions, the DRE evaluation will add another piece of evidence to the cases.

The DRE will be asked to evaluate suspects thought to be on drugs to determine whether they are high and on what kind of drug. The DRE would also testify as an expert witness in court about whether the person was impaired by a drug other than -- or mixed with -- alcohol at the time of the arrest.

The Mustang driver's case also illustrates an instance in which experts are able to detect medical illnesses, which may -- in some cases -- eliminate all suspicion of DUI.

Not in this case, though. The Mustang driver is due in court next week to face charges of DUI.

In each of the past seven years, Hyder has received the Governor's Award for making more than 100 DUI arrests in a year. He also was honored recently by the Carrollwood Rotary Club.

"Every day we read about tragedies drunk drivers cause by being on the road, and the Carrollwood Rotary would like to thank Deputy Hyder and his team for their hard and dangerous work," read the Rotary officers' statement.

Hyder is less than 20 away from 1,000 career DUI arrests.

So what drives him?

"I just enjoy the challenge of the investigation," Hyder said. "I believe the death and destruction must be stopped. It's a crime that's not being overlooked, but people are not aware of how much death and destruction it really causes."

Hyder, 43, mainly patrols the Carrollwood area, primarily along N Dale Mabry Highway. Out here, he averages two to three DUI arrests each night. That may not sound like much, but he said it takes three hours or longer to process a DUI.

Though the typical DUI suspect in Carrollwood is male, age 25 to 35, Hyder said he has arrested a lot more women lately. Many, he said, are high on prescription drugs and alcohol while driving.

While statistics show most DUIs occur on Fridays and Saturdays, people also are getting drunk every day at happy hour, which starts at 3 p.m.

But identifying a DUI suspect is not as easy as sitting outside a bar.

"Statistics show one of every 10 drivers is impaired," he said.

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