Evaluation of the Effects of SFST Training on Impaired Driving Enforcement: [Traffic Safety Facts Research Note]

Details

• Creators:
  Stuster, Jack ; Lim, Eunyoung ; Berning, Amy ; Agimi, Yll
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. National Center for Statistics and Analysis
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Alcohol Tests Before And After Studies Control Groups Drunk Drivers Drunk Driving Evaluation Impaired Drivers Intoxication Law Enforcement Personnel New York City Police Department Sobriety Checkpoints Standardized Field Sobriety Tests Surveys Traffic Arrests Traffic Law Enforcement Training

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT HS 811 455
• Series:
  NHTSA BSR Traffic Safety Facts
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/1525777
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  New York (New York)
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. National Center for Statistics and Analysis
• Abstract:
  The Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) has become the standard pre-arrest procedure for evaluating motorists who are suspected of driving while impaired (DWI). However, some police agencies do not require their officers to receive SFST training. This study evaluates the benefits of SFST training for officers in performing DWI-related tasks. The New York City Police Department’s (NYCPD) Highway District was chosen as the study site, since although many NYCPD officers have traffic enforcement as a primary responsibility, few have been trained in administration of the SFST battery. A total of 102 NYCPD officers received 22 hours of standard SFST training. In order to evaluate the impact of SFST training on officers’ DWI-related activities, data on patrol hours, number of DWI arrests, and self-reported data on DWI arrest skills were gathered. For comparison purposes, such data were also gathered from a control group of officers who did not receive SFST training. Two types of comparisons were conducted. For officers selected for training, DWI-related activities data prior to their SFST training was compared with their data following SFST training. In the second type of analysis, self-reported measures on DWI-task-related activities of 80 SFST-trained officers were compared to those of 84 officers who did not receive SFST training. As a result of SFST training, officers reported increased confidence in performing DWI-related activities compared to pre-SFST training levels. The number of DWI arrests per officer patrol hour also increased significantly after training. The majority of officers who received SFST training considered the training to be highly beneficial. The results indicate SFST training may benefit most officers early in their careers. Among SFST-trained officers, those with less experience showed a greater improvement in confidence in DWI detection and abilities to testify in court when compared to non-SFST-trained officers with comparable years of experience. The overall results from this study indicate that SFST training may contribute to increasing an officer’s confidence and skill in performing DWI roadside assessments.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  NHTSA - Behavioral Safety Research
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:b8b47e8e3b9eb63a5c567e68ea404654e821c64c245d11a6a881f79a652a7084
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/60023/dot_60023_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.22 MB ]