As a recipient of one of GHSA and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility's (Responsibility.org) grants to combat drug-impaired driving, the Montana State Highway Traffic Safety Section (SHTSS) was able to train more than a dozen new Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) in 2017.
Prior to being awarded this grant, Montana was facing challenges maintaining the 70 DREs the state's Traffic Safety Resource Officer (TSRO) deemed necessary to cover its vast geography and enable responses to all calls within one hour. Falling just shy of this goal with 62 DREs on Montana's roads in early 2017, SHTSS used this grant to fill the gaps in coverage and put more trained officers on state roads.
With the funding, Montana held a DRE class for 13 officers, all of whom successfully completed the course and attended practical training to finish the certification process in early 2018. With these additional officers trained, Montana has a total of 75 DREs, exceeding the goal set by its TSRO and helping ensure the state is well-poised to remove drug-impaired drivers from its roadways.