CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands Office of Highway Safety’s (VIOHS) Police Traffic Services Program provided Intoximeter Training and Certification for 14 members of the VIPD Traffic Investigative Bureau. The EC/IR II Intoximeter instrument that the VIPD Traffic Investigative Bureau uses during field sobriety testing measures the alcohol content of a person’s breath, especially in cases of suspected impaired driving.
A rigorous two-day training for all, followed by a one-day maintenance training component for four officers, provided officers in the Traffic Investigative Bureau, with operating knowledge of the instrument as well as information about accuracy checks and calibrations. In addition, the course covered automatic sampling, insufficient breath, manual sampling, and mouth alcohol effects.
Additional discussions of calibration theory and the procedures for accuracy checks and calibrations were also presented. In advance of the in-person training, officers received self-study training modules which were required to be completed before class.
Twenty-five years of experience involving Intoximeter Instruments, John Evans, technical manager at Intoximeters, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri facilitated the training, along with John Schneider, who worked with VIOHS to coordinate the training.
Evans is also involved with the USA National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the development of an International Recommendation on Evidential Breath Analyzers.
He is a technical liaison to the Department of Transportation Approval Laboratory in Volpe Center, Boston for type approval of new Intoximeter instruments including the Intox EC/IR II, Alco-Sensor III RO2, ASVXL and Alco-Sensor FST. Mr. Evans is also a liaison to the US State authorities in the specification of software, testing, and approval of Intoximeter instruments.
“Having completed this training, VIPD officers in the Traffic Investigative Bureau will improve proficiency and efficiency relative to the execution of DUI field testing and enforcement, which is imperative in court proceedings, and for their diligence, commitment, and successful certification,” stated VIPD Police Commissioner, Ray A. Martinez. “I congratulate them. I applaud the collaborative efforts of the Chiefs of Police, the Traffic Commanders, and the Office of Highway Safety, as we all work together to curtail impaired driving in the territory. You cannot drive safely if you are impaired. If you feel different, you drive different, and this is an immense step for all of us in that regard.”
Intoximeters, Inc. is the only authorized source from which to obtain factory certified training on the operation and maintenance of the Intox EC/IR®II instrument, and they are the sole manufacturer of the Intox EC/IR® breath alcohol testing instrument.
For more information on the Police Traffic Services Program, please contact Danielle Cranston, VIOHS Law Enforcement Liaison, at (340) 714-9811, or at [email protected].