Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. CARS AND CRASHES suRvIvING IN YOuR MOBILE OFFICE. suZI HuNTINGTON Understanding DUI W hile some people believe the eyes are the windows to someone’s soul, I’m here to tell you they’re the windows to someone’s level of intoxication. The eyes don’t lie and will always reveal the true story. You need to have a keen eye for the clues they give. When I was a young officer I worked through the weekends on the graveyard shift in the beach area. Because of this I got to know and despise people who drank to excess. Weekends in the beach were a very non-scientific case study of all the stupid things I saw drunks do and say. Little did they know they were lab rats to me, coming from all walks of life — and many of whom were, in theory, smarter than the Keeping the tip of your pen slightly above the subject’s eyes forces them to open wider allowing you to see the HGN more readily. Keeping the eyes at this angle (with some white showing in the corner) for 3-4 seconds is where you look for distinct and sustained HGN. Gaze What? fools the alcohol made them appear to be. I moved to Traffic Division and worked the DUI Enforcement Team where I honed my detection and enforcement skills. I also took classes on DUI enforcement and participated in several alcohol studies. In my ongoing study of intoxicated drivers it was easy to see behavior and driving patterns develop. Fishing for DUIs in the beach wasn’t fishing at all; it was more like shooting a gun into a barrel full of fish. Those who stayed on the main roads were easy to spot because of weaving within their lane. Stop signs and red lights had little or no meaning to them, their headlights usually weren’t on or their windows were all fogged up from their breath. The more hard-core drinkers, and the ones with priors, tended to try to escape the beach using the side No, I didn’t bean Roy over the head with streets. They drove much a frying pan. He’s just talented(?) enough in the same manner as the to demonstrate something you could see, other intoxicated drivers, albeit rarely. Eyes tracking unequally could but they were more deviindicate a head injury or other medical conous — they knew from past dition. You need to clarify any preexisting experience they shouldn’t medical conditions or recent injuries. be driving. ield sobriety tests are par for the course on a DUI evaluation, but most patrol cops don’t understand the tests, i.e. what they’re looking for. Case in point, Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) is an involuntary jerking or bouncing of the eyes while trying to track an object from a forward-looking gaze to the side. Nystagmus is a natural, physiological response to alcohol and while there are other reasons a person could have nystagmus, perhaps a more accurate term for what you’ll see on a DUI evaluation would be Alcohol Gaze Nystagmus. And as a rule, the more alcohol on board, the more pronounced and sooner the bouncing will occur. The other causes and types of nystagmus can get very technical and should be left to the attorneys and scientists to battle out. A good rule of thumb is if the subject has given you PC for a stop, smells of alcohol or displays other indicators of being intoxicated and has HGN, chances are you’ve got a winner. There’s no way to prevent HGN thus making it extremely important to look for and understand. It’s also your “ace in the hole” when dealing with an alcohol-tolerant driver a.k.a. alcoholic, who otherwise may not display gross coordination or balance impairment. F The EYES Have It roper administration of an HGN test is critical. Here are the proper ways to give the tests (there are four separate parts to an HGN test) and what you’re looking for. For all parts of the HGN test, the subject needs to keep his head still; moving his head is a clue all by itself he could be DUI because he can’t follow simple instructions. Using your pen or other similar-sized object, hold it about 12-15" from the subject’s face and slightly higher than his eyes. This elevated placement causes the subject to have to look up, therefore opening his eyes wider allowing you to more easily see the symptoms. As you’re initiating this portion of the test you should look to make sure pupil size is equal. Then, the first movement of your pen (or whatever you’re requiring the subject to follow) will be rapid, from side-to-side, across the subject’s entire range of vision; you’re looking to see if both eyes track the object simultaneously. P Continued on page 60 32 WWW.AMERICANCOPMAGAZINE.COM • MARCH/APRIL 2010