The Local Police in Orihuela revealed that authorities have put officers through an intense training programme aimed at detecting drug use in drivers. The aim of the course was to enable officers to evaluate the signs and symptoms displayed by drivers. Officers covering the city, coast and parishes can now carry out the relevant tests and controls which provide an effective system to detect drugs in drivers who show signs of consumption of illegal substances.
The Councillor of Citizen Security, Mariola Rocamora, stressed the importance of the training course “for the updating of knowledge to ensure a better service to citizens”.
The course was taught at the premises of the Local Police, in Orihuela, and was taken by the officer responsible for training and controls from the Local Police in Elche, José Sánchez; the Deputy Attorney for Road Safety in the province of Alicante, and the psychologist of the Addictive Behaviour Unit in Elche after being approved by the Valencian Institute of Public Safety (IVASPE).
The training “consisted of theory and practice in order to comply with the legal objective of the criminal procedure of the law, which states that only officers who undertake this training may conduct the required tests to detect drugs in drivers,” explained the Councillor. Officers can now conduct the tests at the roadside by which you can detect the consumption of substances and that if it is positive, it will then be sent to an authorised laboratory to confirm the result.
The main objective of these controls is to raise awareness about the risk of driving, having consumed drugs. These substances alter the physical condition in drivers and increase the possibility of accidents, said the Councillor.
Within the practical training, preventive checks were carried out by the officers, both in Orihuela Costa and in Orihuela City. As a result of these controls, in addition to reporting various administrative offenses, a total of 17 positive tests were reported on drug use, a fact that is even more worrying because the controls were performed on weekdays and not just on weekends.
In addition to the preventive nature of the checks carried out, the training officers also made two important arrests. Firstly, that of an individual from Kosovo with an international search and arrest warrant, and secondly a man of Albanian origin with a ban on entry into Schengen territory, as decreed in Italy.
Mireille Toddington