Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes an agreement with the Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO), State of Ohio, for the FFY 2018 Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Regional Coordinators Grant, and to appropriate funds to cover the costs of the program. A drug recognition expert or drug recognition evaluator (DRE) is a police officer trained to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol. In the Spring of 2017, the State of Ohio appointed (5) DRE Regional Coordinators assigned to oversee DRE call-out activities and reporting, and to provide expert witness testimony, DRE training, DRE recertification classes, and DRE recertification audits for their assigned regions, as well as attend OTSO DRE meetings and the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference on Drugs, Alcohol, and Impaired Driving. The State of Ohio recognized the need to minimize the fiscal burden to law enforcement agencies covering costs for a state-appointed DRE Regional Coordinator. So, this initial 2018 pilot grant is awarded to the City of Columbus Division of Police to cover up to 500 overtime hours and costs associated with the State of Ohio Region 6 DRE Regional Coordinator state-assigned duties. Region 6 covers all DREs in Franklin, Licking, Fairfield, Pickaway, Madison, Delaware, and Morrow counties.
This grant agreement authorizes reimbursement for overtime, supplies, and travel and training costs necessary to meet the following grant goals: 1. Review and approve all Drug Evaluations in the assigned region, 2. Schedule and teach (2) ARIDE classes, 3. Develop and teach (1) DRE recertification class. The funding for the agreement is dependent on federal funds from the US Department of Transportation for Federal Fiscal Year 2018 and follows the fiscal year period, October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. The grant award effective period is January 1, 2018 until September 30, 2018.
EMERGENCY...
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