This web-based training curriculum development initiative is the result of a unique partnership between NCPI, the COPS Office, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The program is designed to increase the number of agencies and individuals aware of effective community policing strategies that enhance highway safety by addressing driver impairment related to drugs, alcohol or both, and to increase the number of agencies and individuals proficient in drug recognition expert testimony
To achieve these goals, NCPI developed two self-paced, online courses for delivery to an unlimited number of law enforcement professionals and agencies:
- Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) Refresher
- Expert Insights: Testifying in Court as a DRE
Since launching the courses in 2022 and 2023, participants include more than 5,500 practitioners representing 1,770+ agencies in 50 states.
Enhancing public safety by developing professional skills and competencies
About the ARIDE Refresher training
The ARIDE Refresher course reinforces key concepts that law enforcement officers apply to observe, identify, and articulate the signs of impairment related to drugs, alcohol, or a combination of both to reduce the number of impaired driving incidents, serious injury, and fatal crashes.
It supports law enforcement practitioners in their efforts to effectively assess impaired drivers at roadside. As a refresher, the course reinforces the key concepts presented in the full, 16-hour, instructor-led ARIDE course, and supports officers in the enforcement of DWI (Driving While Impaired) offenses, especially those that may involve drug impairment.
The ARIDE Refresher enhances learners’ understanding of the role of the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) and facilitates better utilization of DREs in the field. For those communities with no DREs or limited access to their services, this course helps officers make informed decisions related to testing and documentation of drug-impaired driving cases.
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About the Expert Insights: Testifying in Court as a DRE training
The Expert Insights course supports Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) as they prepare to appear as witnesses in drug-impaired driving trials.
Throughout the course, experts in the fields of law enforcement and prosecution share advice on enhancing courtroom presence and testimony skills, in addition to examining some of the challenges of testifying in impaired driving cases.
The training explores the role of the DRE witness, fundamental courtroom rules and processes, case file preparation, and personal preparation, recognizing that the groundwork for successful testimony is multi-faceted.
Learners interact with the content sequentially, beginning with the preparation required before appearance as a DRE witness at a trial, the expert witness testimony during the direct examination, cross-examination by the defense attorney, and considerations after the conclusion of the trial.
While tailored to officers who are DREs, this eLearning course is not part of the process of qualifying for or certifying an individual as a DRE.
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Web-based curriculum development
Using our comprehensive instructional design processes, and in close partnership with NHTSA and the COPS Office, NCPI designed and produced all aspects of the ARIDE Refresher and Expert Insights curriculum including:
- learning objectives and corresponding assessment strategies
- storyboards of all on-screen content
- eLearning templates
- scripted narration
- technology-enhanced activities
- course navigation structure
As with all our programs, NCPI built and piloted the courses and produced all multi-media components, working with subject-matter experts, practitioners, and self-advocates, and managing processes related to filming, scripting, editing and video packaging, and audio content production.
“This was very helpful, I took ARIDE in 2020 and I forgot a lot of things along the way. I am glad this course is available. I think this should be a required course every 2 years.”