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Roadside Sobriety Tests: A Police Officer's Guide to Making Drunk Driving Arrests Stand Up in Court

NCJ Number
110555
Author(s)
J Whitmore
Date Published
1987
Length
86 pages
Annotation
This training booklet for police officers provides guidelines for identifying, stopping, and interacting with the drunk driver; administering field sobriety tests; and testifying in court in drunk driving cases.
Abstract
Guidelines for stopping and assessing the drunk driver pertain to probable cause for a stop, clues for identifying drunk drivers, stop location, notifying headquarters, positioning the car, approaching the suspect's vehicle, what to do if the suspect approaches the squad car, and preliminary observations of the driver's condition. The booklet also discusses the driver's legal rights and procedures for writing the ticket or making an arrest. After providing an overview and detailed descriptions of existing sobriety tests, steps for administering the tests are delineated. The tests covered are the walk-and-turn test, the one-leg-stand test, finger-to-nose test, and the nystagmus gaze test. Among the topics covered under officer court testimony are proper records maintenance, observation of environmental conditions, accurate reporting of dates and times, case preparation, conferring with the prosecutor, dress, giving testimony, and types of questions to expect. Glossary, subject index.