CHP - Impaired Driving Section

08/28/2026

This week, IDS Officers Torres and Morgan taught two classes at Novato Police Dept. The first was a Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) class with 16 law enforcement officers.
The second, wrapping up today, is an Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) class with 29 law enforcement officers.

These officers will take these newly acquired skills out on patrol to help in our fight to remove impaired drivers from our roadways before they cause harm.

08/25/2026

More from the International Association of Chiefs of Police Impaired Driving and Traffic Safety Conference in Anaheim this past weekend. The conference, attended by over 1,100 traffic safety professionals from all over the US, Canada and other countries, consisted of training sessions all day Friday, Saturday and in the morning on Sunday.

IDS Sergeants Martens and Smith were selected to present one of the Saturday sessions. Covering the topic of, "Investigating Major Injury/Fatal DUI/DUI-D Crashes, When Resources are Limited." Both were honored to present in front of such a great group of people.

Fun fact unrelated to the conference- both sergeants were academy classmates 23 years ago, DRE school classmates, and promoted from the same sergeant's list!

08/23/2026

CHP IDS as well as CHP DRE Instructors from several field areas attended the International Association of Chiefs of Police Impaired Driving and Traffic Safety conference this weekend in Anaheim, CA.

CHP Commissioner Duryee gave an inspirational speech during the opening session. Afterward, he awarded the original DRE, Former LAPD Sergeant Richard "Dick" Studdard with a Commissioner's Commendation for his contributions to impaired driving education and enforcement. Sergeant Studdard started the Drug Recognition Expert program over forty years ago, a program which was grown to be international.

During the opening session, former CHP Sergeant and DRE Instructor, Scot Esmay, was honored with the title of DRE Emeritus. This title is only afforded to those who have made outstanding and extended contributions as a DRE during their career.

We were so fortunate to be a part of this event and see the tremendous amount of support we have from the very top in our mission to combat impaired driving.

08/22/2026

On Thursday, August 20, 2026, IDS wrapped up our 9th Drug Recognition Expert class of 2026! This class was hosted by Anaheim Police Department.
26 students started the class and 23 passed. Next step, field certification!

This class was managed by IDS Officer Barawed with assistance from IDS Retired Annuitant and DRE Emeritus, Mike "Tex" Teixeira and Anaheim PD Officer Ellis as lead instructors.

On the last day, the students were surprised with a visit from the Original DRE himself, Retired LAPD Sergeant Richard "Dick" Studdard!

08/17/2026

We are so thankful this didn't end in death as happens all too often from impaired driving. This horrific event was 100% preventable.

Designate a sober driver or stay home. Life is too precious to take such a risk.
www.PlanAsoberRide.com

08/12/2026

We just wrapped up a Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) course hosted by Rancho Cordova PD. We had 20 students in the class from various local agencies who all successfully passed the course.

SFST is the first of the impairment training classes we offer and contains the foundational knowledge of impaired driving detection and enforcement. Passing this class is required in order to continue on to more advanced impairment classes.

This course was instructed by IDS Officer Webber along with Retired Annuitants Beck, Holt and Wayne.

We look forward to the attendees using this training to increase the amount of DUI drivers removed from our roadways.

08/06/2026

Today, Impaired Driving Section Sergeant Rob Smith had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at the monthly Senior Volunteer Program (SVP) meeting at CHP - Placerville. They have a thriving program full of people who care deeply for their community.

Sgt Smith spent the time explaining the training CHP cadets go through, the MANY duties of and training provided by the Impaired Driving Section, and fielded questions on impaired driving programs and procedures.

Senior volunteers are extremely helpful with day-to-day tasks at local CHP offices. They help with administrative tasks like filing paperwork and answering phones, assisting at DUI checkpoints, high visibility patrols in school zones and other common traffic complaint areas and much more.

Are you over 55 years of age and have a passion for helping your community? Contact your local CHP office if you are interested in being a volunteer.

08/05/2026

This past Friday, July 31, Impaired Driving Section wrapped up a fun week of class at Glendale Police Department. This class was a 40-hour, Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) Instructor course. We started with 17 students and 14 successfully passed the course and will now help us in bringing SFST training to law enforcement officers statewide. We had officers from Los Angeles PD, Los Angeles Sheriff, Oxnard PD, Arroyo Grande PD, Carlsbad PD, Beverly Hills PD, Visalia PD, El Cajon PD, Ontario PD, Palm Spring PD, Orange PD, and CHP. Some of these officers are current Drug Recognition Experts and will now enter the DRE Instructor Development Program (Instructor apprenticeship).

This course was managed by IDS Officers Phillips and Stayer with instructional assistance from IDS Sergeants Martens and Smith and Retired Annuitant (DRE Emeritus) Mike "Tex" Teixeira.

07/30/2026

Great work!!!

CHP South Sacramento Area officers were recognized at a recent Awards Ceremony for their outstanding commitment to impaired driving enforcement.

This recognition highlights the real-world impact of traffic safety: lives protected, crashes prevented, and impaired drivers successfully kept off South Sacramento roads.

Thank you Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for your continued partnership and for celebrating the dedicated efforts of law enforcement personnel statewide.

07/26/2026

On Thursday July 23, 2026, IDS wrapped up our 8th Drug Recognition Expert School of 2026! It was highly successful! We had 24 law enforcement officers begin the class and all 24 passed the final test, which is not an easy task. We also had 4 auditors from the crime labs of CA Department of Justice and Sacramento County (auditors don't take the final test and don't certify as DREs). The law enforcement attendees were 15 CHP Officers from many different offices, as well as officers from San Rafael PD, Delano PD, Sacramento PD, Redding PD, Colusa PD, Elk Grove PD and Rancho Cordova PD (Sac Sheriff).

A special thank you to Folsom Police Department for hosting us!

The course was managed by IDS Officer Pierman with instructor assistance from many other members of IDS, CHP - Santa Rosa, CHP - Auburn, San Francisco Police Department, Pittsburg Police Department, Pittsburg, CA and California TSRP- Orange County DA.

This course was funded by a grant from California Office of Traffic Safety and with support from International Association of Chiefs of Police.