The Pennsylvania Drug Evaluation and Classification Program is proud to announce the first Pennsylvania Sheriff’s Office certified Drug Recognition Expert.

Lieutenant Richard Webb Jr., who recently retired from the Pennsylvania State Police, has accepted a position with the administration of the Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office.

Webb is now the first county sheriff officer certified as a drug recognition expert.

“The Drug Evaluation and Classification Program is a national effort to train police officers to determine when an individual has been driving under the influence of drugs and to identify the type of drug causing the impairment,” said David Andrascik, the state program coordinator.

The program, which was developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and approved by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, includes classroom study and hands-on exercises for participating officers. In 2004, Pennsylvania became the 39th U.S. state to have a Drug Evaluation and Classification Program approved by the IACP.

Lt. Webb has been a certified DRE in Pennsylvania since the first Pennsylvania class in 2005. There has been a total of 28 Pennsylvania DRE training classes. Pennsylvania currently has 241 Police Officers certified as DREs. Of that, 110 are PA state police troopers, 131 are from 102 municipal police agencies and now one in the county sheriff’s office.

In his current position with the Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office, Webb will be able to provide assistance to officers in Lehigh County as well as the courts when any subject is suspected of being under the influence of a drug.

Webb also serves as a consultant for the Pennsylvania DUI Association and periodically provides training for police officers in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing. Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement, SFST Instructor (Train the Trainer) and DRE.

For more information about the Pennsylvania DECP, visit www.padui.org/pa-decp/.

For more information about the DECP, visit www.decp.org.