Sherman police chief leads nation in identifying drugged drivers

SHERMAN, MISS. (WCBI) – A police chief in one Northeast Mississippi town leads the nation when it comes to identifying what drugs are causing drivers to be impaired.

Whenever the Highway Patrol or other agencies stop a suspected impaired driver, a standard field sobriety test is conducted.   If the driver isn’t under the influence of alcohol,  but still has signs of impairment, known as a “DUI Other.” Sherman Police Chief Joel Spellins is often called to meet the arresting officer and suspect at the nearest jail, for more in-depth testing.

“There’s not an intoxilyzer for drugs, so we do evaluations that help show what a person is impaired on and show that there is impairment and testify in court as an expert witness as to their impairment and what substance they were taking,” Chief Spellins said.

Chief Spellins is a certified ‘Drug Recognition Expert,” also known as a DRE.  He completed extensive training to detect and identify people under the influence of drugs, other than alcohol.  DREs can also identify the types of drugs a driver has taken.

Spellins has led the nation for two years running in DRE evaluations, performing 151 in 2019 and 185 last year.

He says marijuana is the most common drug used by impaired motorists, other than alcohol.

“They think when they smoke marijuana they will drive slower, they’re actually not, the number one probable cause ticket for DUI Other with marijuana is speeding, it messes with time and distance, they think they’re going slow but actually running 95 miles an hour down the highway,” Spellins said.

Chief Spellins is in charge of DRE training for the entire state.  He knows that more officers with DRE certification means more impaired drivers off the road, and more lives saved.

“The increased training by local agencies, to be able to determine somebody is impaired on something is getting a lot better now due to high usage by motoring population,” Chief Spellins said.

Sherman Mayor Mike Swords says having the nation’s leader in DRE Evaluations is a big honor for the tiny town.

“That speaks volumes for the amount of time and work Joel’s put into it and how seriously he takes his job as chief, we’re extremely proud of Joel and his service,” Mayor Swords said.

There are several DRE-trained officers in the area and only around forty across Mississippi.

Chief Spellins will lead another DRE training session for police in March.