SIDNEY — Seventeen different departments came to the Sidney Police Department for Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) training on Sept. 15-16. The Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) program was developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with input from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), and the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.
ARIDE is intended to bridge the gap between the SFST and DEC/DRE programs by providing officers with general knowledge related to drug impairment. The ARIDE program stresses the importance of the signs and symptoms of the seven drug categories. This course will train law enforcement officers to observe, identify and articulate the signs of impairment related to drugs, alcohol, or a combination of both, in order to reduce the number of impaired driving incidents as well as crashes which result in serious injuries and fatalities.
ARIDE is a 16-hour training course and is taught by Drug Recognition Enforcement instructors. The following summarizes the sessions contained in the ARIDE course:
• Introduction and Overview of Drugs and Highway Safety
• SFST Update, Review and Proficiency Examination
• Observations of Eyes and other Sobriety Tests to Detect Alcohol and Drug Impairment
• Seven Drug Categories
• Effects of Drug Combinations
• Pre- and Post-Arrest Procedures
“I would like to thank the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Clark County Sheriff’s Department for providing the training at no cost to all of the officers and deputies,” said Sidney Police Chief Will Balling. “I would also like to thank the Shelby County AAA organization for providing lunch to everyone on Friday. AAA has been a long standing partner with police departments and Sheriff’s Departments across the United States in helping make the roads safer for everyone.”
The departments who attended were Anna Police Department, Miamisburg Police Department, Defiance Police Department, Felicity Police Department, Fiver Rivers Metro Parks Ranger Division, Green County Sheriff’s Office, Greenville Police Department, Logan County Sheriff’s Office, Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Miami County Sheriff’s Office, Minister Police Department, New Breman Police Department, Owensville Police Department, Russells Point Police Department, Sidney Police Department, Versailles Police Department and Yellow Springs Police Department.
