The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is responsible for reducing injuries, deaths, and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes, and its mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce traffic-related health care and other economic costs.

The American people expect government to protect their best interests by:

• Working towards greater traffic safety
• Ensuring that vehicles are as safe as possible
• Striving to keep unsafe drivers off the road

To reduce the threat of impaired drivers, promote the use of safety belts and child safety seats, provide consumer information on motor vehicle safety topics, and increase compliance with traffic laws, NHTSA collaborates with law enforcement agencies and organizations to keep the Nation’s streets and highways safer.

The law enforcement community is a key partner to NHTSA, and as a result, NHTSA designated the Traffic Law Enforcement Division to anticipate and respond to the needs of law enforcement and to develop innovative products for law enforcement’s use in reducing traffic crashes, injuries, and deaths. The single most requested product is training.

NHTSA develops training curricula in several ways. The Traffic Law Enforcement Division may:

• Assemble a team of experienced officers to draft curricula

• Contract with the International Association of Chiefs of Police or the National Sheriffs’ Association to develop curricula

• Contract with the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training to develop a training course and institutionalize it through its members, generally known in the states as Police Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.)

Following are the current NHTSA courses available to law enforcement officers. Some may already be offered as in-service classes through a P.O.S.T. training organization. If an agency is interested in learning more about these courses, contact the nearest State Highway Safety Office or NHTSA Regional Office. A list of these offices is located in each Campaign Safe & Sober Planner.

DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing
You have just stopped a motorist for a minor traffic violation and detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage while talking to the motorist. Although you are sure the driver has consumed alcohol, you are not sure if the driver is legally impaired. This uncertainty occasionally allows offenders to avoid being arrested and removed from the highway. This 24-hour, hands-on course teaches the skills necessary to detect impaired drivers with a high degree of accuracy. Additionally, it shows how to write an accurate and convincing report and instills confidence for testifying in court. This course is designed for sworn law enforcement officers who want to enhance their Driving While Impaired (DWI) detection skills.

Principles and Techniques of Training in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing: The SFST Instructor Training School
Teaching is an art for which an individual must have the proper mindset and motivation. Subject matter expertise and technical skills, while important, simply are not enough. This 32-hour course will help an officer build on the foundation laid in the Basic DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Course as well as develop the skills to become an effective instructor.

Drug Evaluation and Classification Training: The Drug Recognition School
As a law enforcement officer you have just administered the Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) to a subject you suspect to be driving while impaired. You take the suspect to the police station and administer the alcohol breath test which results in 0.00. You are certain that the subject is impaired, but you are also certain it is not alcohol. All your training leads you to believe that the subject is under the influence of some drug or combination of drugs, but how do you get these observations into a court of law?

The Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DEC) is a standardized, systematic method for law enforcement officers to determine whether observed driver impairment is due to drug use and if so, to identify the category or categories of drugs involved. This course is intended for law enforcement officers who have successfully completed SFST training and want to become a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE). Participants learn basic drug terminology and pharmacology and how to identify the 7 categories of drugs and the indicators of impairment.

The DRE course consists of a 2-day “preschool” training, a 7-day program with hands-on practice, and certification training. The certification phase is conducted by a certified instructor and consists of actual evaluations of drug-impaired subjects. Training is complete when the participant demonstrates proficiency as a DRE and fully meets the national standards established by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

The DRE candidate is an officer who has some special knowledge of and commitment to impaired driving enforcement. To become a DRE also requires a commitment from the officer’s agency. The agency must have an active impaired driving enforcement program and be committed to on-going training to maintain the DRE’s proficiency.

Principles and Techniques of Drug Recognition Expert Training: The DRE Instructor Training School
This 40-hour course focuses on the principles and techniques of teaching and how they apply to the curricula used to train Drug Recognition Experts (DRE). This course is taught by DRE’s and is designed to develop expertise in delivering the components of DRE training. Participants learn the essentials of sound teaching practices and are given ample opportunity to apply the newly-acquired skills in practice teaching sessions. Officers must be a certified DRE to apply for this course.

Youth DWI and Underage Enforcement
For the first time in 6 years, youth alcohol-related traffic crash fatalities are increasing. A recent survey of 17,000 high school seniors showed that an alarming 50.8 percent had used an illicit drug at least once in their lifetime. Police administrators are aware that drinking age laws and impaired driving laws are often under-enforced for youth, particularly juveniles. This problem needs to be addressed directly and immediately.

This 1 1/2-day workshop on youthful offenders is led by staff from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and trained police personnel selected from around the country. It is designed to uncover why enforcement is problematic with teenagers and what strategies can be employed by law enforcement officers to effectively deal with the problem.

This workshop is intended for unit commanders and other police management officials in a position to influence their department’s policies and operations.

Traffic Occupant Protection Strategies
Recent spot checks on child safety seat installation revealed that most were incorrectly installed, exposing children to serious injury or death in even a minor collision. Child safety seats were intended to make transporting children safer, not more hazardous. If your department is considering occupant protection training, then Traffic Occupant Protection Strategies (TOPS) workshops ought to be “tops” on a list of training considerations.

The TOPS course emphasizes education and enforcement and teaches officers how to conduct an initial evaluation of a crash scene to assist in crash reconstruction. This 1-day course is offered as a series of 7 modules, 3 core modules, and 4 optional modules. The course has been designed to allow the instructor to tailor it to meet specific needs and unique interests.

This workshop is intended for local and state law enforcement officers. These officers may or may not be involved in traffic law enforcement, but it is assumed that the majority will be involved in traffic or reaching out to the public through safety presentations.

Law Enforcement Training for Buckle Up America: Mobilizing America to Buckle Up Children
Basic Training in Child Passenger Safety Enforcement is a workshop intended for field law enforcement officers and is designed to increase awareness levels and enthusiasm for enforcement. Upon completion of the curriculum, officers will be able to better identify child passenger safety violations, make more stops, and take appropriate enforcement actions.

Available formats include a 15-minute child passenger safety awareness Roll Call videotape encompassing issues such as child seat misuse, seat positioning and securing, and law enforcement’s role in child passenger safety. One to 2-hour classroom exercises and presentations provide more details on the problem of unsecured children and the patrol officer’s role in solving the problem. A 4-hour interactive seminar, with a field enforcement officer-targeted curriculum, is designed to assist officers in becoming better able to identify child passenger safety violations and take appropriate enforcement actions. The curriculum consists of two video segments and five instructional modules that may be used individually or in combination.

Operation Kids: Law Enforcement Child Passenger Safety Program
This workshop is intended for law enforcement officers as a supplement to the Traffic Occupant Protection Strategies (TOPS) curriculum. Law enforcement personnel will learn how critical their role is in promoting child passenger safety. The course offers a 4-hour child passenger safety awareness program, primarily targeted to law enforcement administrators to enlist support for enhanced child passenger safety enforcement; an 8-hour officer orientation including basic child passenger safety awareness, injury prevention, correct use and installation of child restraints, and the need for enforcement of child passenger safety laws, including a minimum hands-on experience with child safety seats; and a 2-day technical, hands-on training program targeted to law enforcement officers.

The 2-day course covers the basics of injury prevention, hands-on technical experience with correct use of child restraint systems, their correct installation, and vehicle safety belt and child restraint compatibility issues, in addition to developing child passenger safety community programs. Officers successfully completing the 2-day class receive a certificate of proficiency from the International Chiefs of Police (IACP). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that the Operation Kids course and the “core modules” of the TOPS course be considered “companion” courses, and that officers receive TOPS training before the Operation Kids program.

Speed Measuring Device Operator Training Program
Progressive administrators often face a double-edged sword. Their desire to provide officers with the most recent advancements in speed measuring technology is compounded by the need to give those same officers the associated operator training. Increased demands on resources has challenged administrators to seek new and innovative training designs.

Recognizing this dilemma, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), through a Cooperative Agreement with the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, has developed a new Speed Measuring Device Operator Training Program. This program contains five training modules: a Core Module and device-specific modules for radar, time-distance, lidar, and automated devices. New operators should receive the Core Module in addition to a device-specific module. Once an operator has successfully completed the Core Module, repeating this material for each type of device will not be necessary. This approach reduces training time and expenses while maintaining quality operator training. The modules can be delivered separately or in combination. The program provides a resource for agencies and academies responsible for providing operator training and developing operator certification programs.

The Law Enforcement Public Information Workshop
You are the evening shift commander, and a major incident involving one of your officers has just occurred on your watch. The media is bombarding you for answers, and you are not sure what to do or how to proceed. You’re tempted to ignore them, but if you do, you know that speculations and rumors will result.

This 3-day workshop is meant for law enforcement executives, public affairs officers, and field and traffic commanders who deal with the media. Participants will learn how to effectively work with and understand the functions of the media. This includes how to write a news release, give effective news conferences, maximize influence, and understand legal issues and policies. This interactive workshop contains practice media interviews, simulated news conferences, writing exercises, and an opportunity to pose questions to a panel of local media personnel.

After this workshop participants will feel that they are an ambassador to the media for their agency and the audiences they serve. Participants will be able to work with reporters to tell a solid story and help commanders, officers, and other staff become partners in proactively promoting their agency to the public through the media.

Guidelines for the Evaluation and Structuring of a Driver Training Process for Law Enforcement Personnel
The guide contains the latest training emphasis and policies. The most visible law enforcement activity is the driving of patrol vehicles, especially during emergency response and pursuit operations. Operating the patrol vehicle is also the most deadly activity that officers perform. Available data suggests that more than one-fourth of the officers killed in the line of duty died while operating patrol vehicles. The cost of law enforcement driving-related crashes is high. Therefore, it is important that law enforcement administrators can show the public that officers are trained, competent, and well-managed in this critical activity.

It is reasonable to expect officers to receive training in all areas of vehicle operations, especially emergency and pursuit driving. Historically, the reasons for opposing this type of training were claims that it was too expensive and unnecessary, or the appropriate facilities did not exist. Risk management professionals argue that the greater costs are associated with failing to provide quality training. The guide will be available January 1999.

Law Enforcement Driver Training Reference Guide
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) developed the Law Enforcement Driver Training Reference Guide through a cooperative agreement with the International Association of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST). Elements of the course are:

• Determining the need for law enforcement driver training

• Curriculum guidelines for driver training during non-emergency, emergency response, and pursuit operations

• Legal aspects of law enforcement driving

• Process for validating a driver training program

• How to provide quality training on existing or limited facilities

• Instructor qualifications