Pubdate: Fri, 30 Dec 2011
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2011 The Windsor Star
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/PTv2GKdw
Website: http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501

RCMP DRUG TRAINING GOES TO U.S.

Tapping Experts in Phoenix

OTTAWA - The RCMP is preparing to spend hundreds of thousands of 
dollars to send police officers to Phoenix for three weeks of 
training where alcohol and drugs feature prominently and a bar is a 
hotel requirement.

The Mounties are planning six workshops - each three weeks long - in 
the sun-soaked Arizona city between April 2012 and March 2013 to 
train a few hundred RCMP, provincial and municipal police officers 
from across the country on recognizing and testing drug-impaired drivers.

Police say there's currently a dearth of officers in Canada with 
expertise in spotting and catching drug-impaired drivers.

The RCMP, which administers the training of all Canadian police 
officers on drug recognition, says Phoenix is the teaching hot spot 
and best place to find high drivers in mass quantity.

The RCMP is calling for bids from hotels that can provide queen-or 
king-sized beds for around 35 people for each three-week training 
session, amounting to 680 guest room nights for each workshop and a 
total 4,080 room nights over the six sessions planned for Phoenix.

Each workshop will include around 24 officers for training, six 
certified instructors and four to six additional officers practising 
to be instructors.

A couple of meeting rooms, including one with an on-site bar, are 
also required for training purposes.

The force estimates the total hotel tab will range between $100,000 
and $250,000, according to its request for proposals.

Sending more than 200 officers to Phoenix over the six training 
sessions - with return flights from major Canadian cities ranging 
from around $550 to $700 - will likely add at least another $100,000 
to the total bill.

But RCMP officials say they're saving taxpayers potentially $120,000 
by consolidating the training in one city this year.

"Bottom line, is it's just cheaper to do it in Arizona than what we 
can provide it for in Canada," RCMP Insp. Allan Lucier said Thursday 
in an interview.

The training, which is led by Canadian police officials, involves a 
two-week, in-classroom theoretical component followed by one week of 
inthe-field teaching and certification.

In past years, the RCMP would fly in and house officers at a hotel in 
a Canadian city for the two weeks of theoretical teaching, and then 
head down to Phoenix for the field certification at the Maricopa 
County Sheriff 's Office.

But this year, the RCMP is hoping to save taxpayer cash by flying 
police officers to one location in Phoenix for all three weeks of training.

Lucier said the Arizona facility trains 85 per cent of all 
drug-recognition experts in North America, partly because there's a 
sufficient number of criminals to examine, so it makes sense to send 
the officers to Phoenix - even though the training will be done by 
Canadian officials.

"It's just the volume and the consistency of drug-impaired 
individuals that the facility provides us that make it worthwhile for 
us," Lucier said.

"What going to Arizona is allowing us to do is to put some control on 
those costs."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom