WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Transportation has established a national goal for impaired driving that calls for the decrease in numbers and percentage of alcohol and drug related highway crashes and fatalities; and

WHEREAS, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has determined that the national goal may not be met unless an assertive effort is made to train police officers in detecting, apprehending, and convicting the impaired drivers; and WHEREAS, a NHTSA study revealed that for every DWI violator arrested, there are between 500 and 2,000 undetected violators; and

WHEREAS, in a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) study, police officers failed to detect 78 percent of the DWI violators; and WHEREAS, of the 45,555 people killed in traffic crashes in 1989, an estimated 49 percent (22,415) died in alcohol-related crashes; and

WHEREAS, the NHTSA model curriculum of DWI Detection and Standardization Field Sobriety Tests (SFST) training was developed to provide instruction on the fundamental tasks that make up DWI enforcement, and identify the knowledge, skills and attitudes police officers need to perform these tasks well; and,

WHEREAS, the major strength of this program is that it establishes standardized training throughout the country and thus provides a verifiable record of success with both the DWI arresting officers and the courts; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police supports and encourages the certification and adoption of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety (SFST) curriculum, or its equivalent, by the state agencies responsible for peace officer standards and training and that the curriculum be used at both the required recruit and in-service police officer training levels.