![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2019\/11\/Tom_Page.jpg?resize=400%2C232&ssl=1\")
Students, police officers, attorneys or anyone curious about drug recognition now have a place to do research and learn the history of Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) at the Drug Recognition Center and Archives, located in University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s Library Archives.<\/p>\n
Detroit Mercy alumnus Thomas Page \u201971, \u201976 is a nationally recognized DRE \u2014 a law enforcement officer trained to identify people whose driving is impaired by drugs \u2014 with more than 30 years of experience. And he is the driving force behind the Drug Recognition Center and Archives.<\/p>\n
Page said he was motivated to create the center because there was no central location for DRE materials or history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was really no one place to refer to, the materials were scattered all over the country,\u201d Page said. \u201cOne person said, \u2018I can always call up Tom Page.\u2019 But I\u2019m not going to be around forever. There\u2019s a need for these materials and it\u2019s always evolving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have this stuff, nobody else has it and if we don\u2019t put it somewhere where it\u2019s going to be saved then it\u2019s going to be lost to history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The history of DRE curriculum and training is important to Page because he was one of the pioneers in the early days when these things were being developed. As a member of the Los Angeles Police Department, Page assisted in the coordination of the 1985 Los Angeles Field Validation Test of the DRE Procedure, one of the first in the country. And he was a member of the initial DRE curriculum development cadre.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very protective of where this all came from and how it developed,\u201d Page said. \u201cPeople like to re-write history and take credit for things. I\u2019m not personally looking for credit, but I know the blood, sweat and tears that many officers and prosecutors put into this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Page still serves as an expert witness. He has testified in 21 states and presented internationally. Page said the center now gives him added credibility when he testifies, because the materials have a formal home and it can help current police officers answer the question posed by most attorneys, \u2018What is the science behind this?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unique because it takes psychology, biology, pharmacology, sociology, it takes from all these different fields and merges into something officers can use at roadside,\u201d Page said. \u201cTo me, it comes down to this: who else makes arrests at 3 o\u2019clock in the morning? It\u2019s not doctors or nurses. It\u2019s police officers. The materials allow you to look at all those different fields and learn from them, and sell it to them so they aren\u2019t threatened by it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Page made the decision he wanted to help create the archive, he had to decide on a location. He contacted Detroit Mercy\u2019s College of Liberal Arts & Education Dean Mark Denham, who put him in touch with Jennifer Dean, dean of University Libraries and Instructional Tech and Sara Armstrong, associate dean for Technical Services and Library Systems. Dean and Armstrong thought the center would be a great fit so they began the process of curating all the materials.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it fits in with many aspects of our curriculum,\u201d Armstrong said of the Drug Recognition Center. \u201cI think this is a collection where students can actively come in and take a look at it. There\u2019s the legal aspect, cybersecurity, pharmacology, criminal justice, nursing, it can hit a large group of disciplines. We thought it would be helpful for our current students.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the fact that the University has established this Resource Center and Archives is reflective of its commitment to intellectual curiosity, as well as its continued support of its students, professors and staff,\u201d Page said. \u201cI believe the center will stimulate research in various fields, including psychology, sociology, substance abuse and law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean also sees it as a way to honor an alumnus in Page who has accomplished so much in his field.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gone out and done something significant, that\u2019s another focus you will see in the archive,\u201d Dean said. \u201cHere\u2019s an alumnus who is a real expert in his field and this is a place where we can recognize that. And it\u2019s perfect that it fits so well with our curriculum and faculty research interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to establishing the Center, Page surveyed prosecutors, toxicologists and researchers involved in the field of impaired driving and Page said 100% of those who responded thought it was a great idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cA number of officers said that they would refer attorneys to the center regarding the development of law enforcement procedures,\u201d Page said.\u00a0\u201cMany officers said that they would use the center for specific information on the drugs of abuse. Prosecutors told me that this resource would be very helpful in preparing to meet challenges in court, particularly those challenges that deal with the history of Drug Recognition and the specific procedures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is currently no central repository for the many studies, articles, books and ephemera that have helped the field of Drug Recognition to grow,\u201d Page added. \u201cThis Center will be that repository.\u201d<\/p>\n
Page felt Detroit Mercy was the perfect fit for the Center for several reasons, including the Jesuit and Mercy values of the institution.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe field of drug recognition is centered around public safety,\u201d Page said. \u201cIt has its roots with law enforcement and the prosecution of drug-impaired drivers. At the same time, officers trained in drug recognition learn that there are many causes of impaired driving, including the identification of medical conditions.\u00a0Officers are better able to direct people to medical care.\u00a0It really is about justice for the individual and for society as a whole.\u00a0I think that awareness of the interaction of mind, body, science or individuals and communities is very much at the heart of Jesuit and Mercy educational traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Page got the ball rolling by donating his own materials to the Drug Recognition Center and Archives, former colleagues of his and other highly respected DREs began to donate as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people who have started to donate materials are happy this is coming to a Mercy and Jesuit institution because principle and ethics are so important in drug recognition,\u201d Armstrong said.<\/p>\n
Page credits his time at Detroit Mercy (then the University of Detroit) for having a lasting impression on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to give so much credit to what I learned from this place,\u201d Page said. \u201cMy Jesuit education played a very important role. It gave me a value system, an ethical system, a comprehensive way of looking at things. I remember classes that emphasized those things. I\u2019ve been very, very lucky and I love the idea of giving back. It\u2019s fun for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Page believes his work with the Drug Recognition Center can have a lasting impact on the field and is just as important as the work he did with the LAPD at the start of his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to save lives on the roadway,\u201d Page said.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Original story by Dave Pemberton.\u00a0Follow Detroit Mercy on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>. Have a story idea? Let us know by\u00a0submitting your idea<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Students, police officers, attorneys or anyone curious about drug recognition now have a place to do research and learn the history of Drug Recognition Experts …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6],"tags":[1012,128,1716,94,2132,2129,2130,2133,2131,327,2138,2134,2135,2136,2137],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbwnTV-Zw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3814"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3814"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3817,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3814\/revisions\/3817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}