At a recent Columbus Town Council meeting, Police Chief Chris Beddingfield announced that Lt. Nicholas Stott had passed the certification test to become a drug recognition expert, or DRE.

A DRE is a police officer trained to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol. Stott is one of only 118 DREs in the state, and the only person in Polk County, to hold this prestigious international certification, according to Beddingfield.

“I am extremely proud of him. It is a very tough program,” said Beddingfield, of Stott’s completion of the seven-month process that involved classes, written exams, and physical evaluations.

“We’re seeing a lot more drug impaired drivers using both depressants and narcotics and there is a great need to get these impaired drivers off the roads,” said Lt. Stott. He added that abusers often mix depressants, like Xanax or Clonopin, with narcotics, like oxycodone or hydrocodone.

As a DRE, Stott is now trained to evaluate a person to determine what drug or drugs they are using based on their physical characteristics and behavior. Each of the seven classifications of drugs, such as cannabis, narcotic/analgesics, inhalants, dissociative anesthetics, hallucinogens, and central nervous system depressants and stimulants, produces specific and recognizable physical reactions.

The reactions he looks for are pupil size, pulse rate, body temperature, gaze, tremors, speech, injection marks and reaction to light. After his physical evaluation is complete, the person will have a lab test to confirm Stott’s findings.

“Having this certification will enable us to combat impaired driving on substances other than alcohol much more effectively,” said Beddingfield.

“Impaired driving on substances such as prescription pills is one of the largest problems we face today. For many years impaired driving was thought of as alcohol only but currently this is not the case,” Beddingfield added.

Lt. Stott will be able to use this certification to assist any other agency in this area with evaluation and follow up court testimony after the arrest, according to Beddingfield.

Stott said that he has arrested 315 impaired individuals in his career in law enforcement, with a 97 percent conviction rate.

“I can’t prove how many people weren’t hurt, or killed, or robbed, because of these arrests,” said Stott. “You can’t prove a negative, but I like to think that at least I’ve helped someone.”

Stott, 31, is a native of Polk County.  He graduated from Polk County High School in 2002 and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006 with a bachelor of arts in Peace, War and Defense, and minors in history and Asian studies.  Lt. Stott completed his Basic Law Enforcement Training at the Chapel Hill Police Academy.

He worked at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office from 2006 until 2009, where he is still a reserve deputy, and joined the Columbus Police Department in 2009. Stott is also a firefighter and EMT with the Green Creek Fire Department.

Publisher’s note:  We’d like to recognize those in our community who help make a difference in the quality of our lives. In that spirit we bring you this column, regularly featuring the men and women who make a difference. To recommend someone for this feature profile, please email us at: news@tryondailybulletin.com, with the subject line “Getting to know you.”