Drug Recognition Expert

A drug recognition expert or drug recognition evaluator (DRE) is a police officer trained to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) coordinates the International Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) Program with support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) originated the program in the early 1970s. Back then LAPD officers noticed that many of the individuals arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) had very low or zero alcohol concentrations. The officers reasonably suspected that the arrestees were under the influence of drugs, but lacked the knowledge and skills to support their suspicions. In response, two LAPD sergeants collaborated with various medical doctors, research psychologists, and other medical professionals to develop a simple, standardized procedure for recognizing drug influence and impairment. Their efforts culminated in the development of a multi-step protocol and the first DRE program. The LAPD formally recognized the program in 1979.

The LAPD DRE program attracted NHTSA’s attention in the early 1980s. The two agencies collaborated to develop a standardized DRE protocol, which led to the development of the DEC Program. During the ensuing years, NHTSA and various other agencies and research groups examined the DEC program. Their studies demonstrated that a properly trained DRE can successfully identify drug impairment and accurately determine the category of drugs causing such impairment.

In 1987, NHTSA initiated DEC pilot programs in Arizona, Colorado, New York and Virginia. The states of Utah, California, and Indiana were added in 1988. Beginning in 1989, IACP and NHTSA expanded the DEC Program across the country. Currently, 43 states, the District of Columbia, three branches of the military, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and several countries around the world participate in the DEC Program.

In 1992 the governing board of the International Association of Chiefs of Police approved the creation of the Drug Recognition Section. On June 10-13, 1995, the section hosted a training conference on impaired driving in Phoenix, Arizona. Since then the IACP Training Conference on Drugs, Alcohol and Impaired Driving has convened every year and is attended by DREs and their instructors, DUI enforcement officers, prosecutors, toxicologists, medical and school professionals, and other highway safety advocates.

The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety (MeBHS) provides oversight and funding for the DRE program in Maine. The MeBHS works closely with the Maine Criminal Justice Academy (MCJA) and the Maine Department of Human Services through their Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory (HETL) to support the DRE program.

The MeBHS has appointed a MCJA representative as the IACP State DEC Coordinator. The State DEC Coordinator works closely with the MeBHS to provide certification training and manage the DRE program statewide. The DEC Coordinator has established several volunteer regional coordinators statewide to assist with the management of regional issues. Maine has approximately 100 active DRE’s and 17 DRE Instructors statewide.

Training and Certification

Please check back for future trainings.

Active DREs

Listed by County

Updated: 6/1/2022

York			Franklin, Kennebec, Somerset
Cunniff	John	Saco PD	Allen	Seth	MSP Traffic
Flint	Robert	Biddeford PD	Allen	Tanya	Pending
Jepson	William	Wells PD	Booth	Garret	MSP Skowhegan
McNeice	Brian	York PD	Dinsmore	Ryan	Waterville PD
Moore	Philip	S. Berwick PD	Drouin	Anthony	Augusta PD
Ogden	Benjamin	York PD	Finnegan	Don	MCJA
Parker	Victor	Biddeford PD	Gove	Normand	Gardiner PD
Prior	Samantha	Biddeford PD	Hastings	Edward	State Fire Marshal
Raymond	Andrew	Sanford PD	Hubert	Bradley	Winslow PD
Roy	Karl	Wells PD	Lyman	Michael	Somerset SO
Sargent	Ashley	Pending	Maloon	Tyler	MSP Skowhegan
Schoff	Kevin	Kennebunk PD	McDonald	Kyle	Waterville PD
Walton	Conner	MSP Alfred	Roberts	Logan	Somerset SO
			Rogers	Sara	Augusta PD
Cumberland			Wilder	Blake	Waterville PD
Anastasoff	Shawn	Scarborough PD
Benjamin	Rory	Cape Elizabeth PD	Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, Waldo
Bernier	Joshua	Brunswick PD	Beal	Joshua	MWS
Feeney	Andrew	Cumberland SO	Bowers	Mathew	Topsham PD
Gallant	Eugene	Windham PD	Bryan	Eric	Bath PD
Gordan	Colin	Falmouth PD	Dietlin	John	Sagadahoc SO
Haskell	Evan	Westbrook PD	Jandreau	Jordan	Rockland PD
Hatch	Theodore	Gorham PD	McDonald	Cassandra	Waldo SO
Hendee	Scott	Cumberland PD	Sharpe	Matthew	Sagadahoc SO
Hinkley	Michael	Gorham PD	Tilton	Nathanael	Knox SO
Hinkley	Stephen	Gorham PD
Libby	Robert	Judicial Marshal	Penobscot, Piscataquis
Maher	Lee	Windham PD	Angelo	Sarah	Orono PD
Mattox	Scot	Falmouth PD	Bailey	Ryan	Old Town PD
Monsees	Tyler	Cumberland SO	Barrieau	Camron	Penobscot SO
Ramsay	Jessica	South Portland PD	Benjamin	Eduardo	Holden PD
Reese	Timothy	Bridgton PD	Cook	Robert	Piscataquis SO
Roma	John	Brunswick PD	Day	Stephen	Holden PD
Theriault	Zachary	Portland PD	Gray	Christopher	Orono PD
Thurlow	Kaitlyn	Gorham PD	Johnson	Nicholas	MWS
Thurlow	Michael	Scarborough PD	Kurth	Kari	MSP Bangor
Williams	Raymond	Windham PD	Mangino	Nicholas	MWS
			Miller	William	Hampden PD
Androscoggin, Oxford			Murphy	Lucas	Old Town PD
Blais	Timothy	Lewiston PD	Olmstead	David	MSP Bangor
Bohacik	Devon	Androscoggin SO	Perry	Jordan	Bangor PD
Levesque	Andrew	Lisbon PD	Pina	Michael	Piscataquis SO
Mailhot	Gregory	Androscoggin SO	Rusby	Tyler	Bangor PD
McCormick	Terrance	Auburn PD	Turcotte	Aaron	MSP Bangor
Miller	Don	Rumford PD	Walsh	John	Penobscot SO
Pealatere	Gregory	Auburn PD
Schmitz	Aaron	Lewiston PD	Aroostook
			Bouchard	Adam	Aroostook SO
Hancock, Washington			Cochran	Chad	Caribou PD
Austin	Dana	MSP Ellsworth	Cyr	Jasmine	Houlton PD
Cake	Judson	Bar Harbor PD	McPherson	Kegan	Caribou PD
Chapman	Travis	MSP Ellsworth	Merchant	Laney	MSP-F
Claroni	David	Baileyville PD
Dupuis	Dakota	Hancock SO
Hardy	Jarrod	Bar Harbor PD
Simpson	Christopher	Washington SO
Stevens	Ethan	Washington SO

Listed Alphabetically

Last Name	First Name	Agency	Last Name	First Name	Agency
Allen	Seth	MSP Augusta	Lyman	Michael	Somerset SO
Allen	Tanya	Waterville PD	Maher	Lee	Windham PD
Anastasoff	Shawn	Scarborough PD	Mailhot	Gregory	Androscoggin SO
Angelo	Sarah	Orono PD	Maloon	Tyler	MSP Skowhegan
Austin	Dana	MSP Ellsworth	Mangino	Nicholas	IFW
Bailey	Ryan	Old Town PD	Mattox	Scot	Falmouth PD
Barrieau	Camron	Penobscot SO	McCormick	Terrance	Auburn PD
Beal	Joshua	IFW	McDonald	Cassandra	Waldo SO
Benjamin	Eduardo	Holden PD	McDonald	Kyle	Waterville PD
Benjamin	Rory	Cape Elizabeth	McNeice	Brian	York PD
Bernier	Joshua	Brunswick PD	McPherson	Kegan	Caribou PD
Blais	Timothy	Lewiston PD	Merchant	Laney	MSP-F
Bohacik	Devon	Androscoggin SO	Miller	Donald	Rumford PD
Booth	Garret	MSP Skowhegan	Miller	William	Hampden PD
Bouchard	Adam	Aroostook SO	Monsees	Tyler	Cumberland SO
Bowers	Mathew	Topsham PD	Moore	Philip	S Berwick PD
Bryan	Eric	Bath PD	Murphy	Lucas	Old Town PD
Cake	Judson	Bar Harbor PD	Ogden	Benjamin	York PD
Chapman	Travis	MSP Ellsworth	Olmstead	David	MSP Bangor
Claroni	David	Baileyville PD	Parker	Victor	Biddeford PD
Cochran	Chad	Caribou PD	Pealatere	Gregory	Auburn PD
Cook	Robert	Piscataquis SO	Perry	Jordan	Bangor PD
Cunniff	John	Saco PD	Pina	Michael	Piscataquis SO
Cyr	Jasmine	Houlton PD	Prior	Samantha	Biddeford PD
Day	Stephen	Holden PD	Ramsey	Jessica	S. Portland PD
Dietlin	John	Sagadahoc SO	Raymond	Andrew	Sanford PD
Dinsmore	Ryan	Waterville PD	Reese	Timothy	Bridgton PD
Drouin	Anthony	Augusta PD	Roberts	Logan	Somerset SO
Dupuis	Dakota	Hancock SO	Rogers	Sara	Augusta PD
Feeney	Andrew	Cumberland SO	Roma	John	Brunswick PD
Finnegan	Don	MCJA	Roy	Karl	Wells PD
Flint	Robert	Biddeford PD	Rusby	Tyler	Bangor PD
Gallant	Eugene	Windham PD	Sargent	Ashley	N. Berwick PD
Gordan	Colin	Falmouth PD	Schmitz	Aaron	Lewiston PD
Gove	Normand	Gardiner PD	Schoff	Kevin	Kennebunk PD
Gray	Chrotopher	Orono PD	Sharpe	Matthew	Sagadahoc SO
Hardy	Jerrod	Bar Harbor PD	Simpson	Christopher	Washington SO
Haskell	Evan	Westbrook PD	Stevens	Ethan	Washington SO
Hastings	Edward	Fire Marshal	Theriault	Zachary	Portland PD
Hatch	Theodore	Gorham PD	Thurlow	Kaitlyn	Gorham PD
Hendee	Scott	Cumberland PD	Thurlow	Michael	Scarborough PD
Hinkley	Michael	Gorham PD	Tilton	Nathanael	Knox SO
Hinkley	Stephen	Gorham PD	Turcotte	Aaron	MSP Bangor
Hubert	Bradley	Winslow PD	Walsh	John	Penobscot SO
Jandreau	Jordan	Rockland PD	Walton	Conner	MSP Alfred
Jepson	William	Wells PD	Wilder	Blake	Waterville PD
Johnson	Ncholas	MWS-Greenville	Williams	Raymond	Windham PD
Kurth	Kari	MSP Bangor
Levesque	Andrew	Lisbon PD
Libby	Robert	Judicial Marshal

Forms

Additional forms can be found on HETL's Forensic Web-site.

Manuals

DRE Pre-School Manuals:

DRE 7-Day School Manuals: