Published on Sunday, December 18, 2005
in the Miami Herald

THIRTY AUXILIARY TROOPERS FROM THE FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL IN MIAMI-DADE HAVE BEEN TRAINED TO STOP DRUNKEN OR RECKLESS DRIVERS

If you're weaving down the road some night and see the flashing blue and red lights of a Florida Highway Patrol car in your rear-view mirror, you might have caught the attention of volunteer auxiliary trooper Guillermo Hechevarria.

Hechevarria, who owns a Hialeah auto repair business, is one of 30 unpaid auxiliary citizen-troopers who has completed special training in ''limited scope patrolling,'' allowing them to work the roads by themselves in FHP cars.

They can't write tickets to speeders or red-light runners, but they can stop drunken or reckless drivers who are an ''imminent threat'' to safety. The auxiliary troopers -- civilians who come from many professions and backgrounds and who are not sworn law-enforcement officers -- are a big help to the 125 regular road troopers in the Miami-Dade/Monroe area, FHP officials say.

Hechevarria, 41, has nearly 300 hours of training and 140 hours with a regular field training officer.

The program is new in South Florida and has been approved by the FHP's legal department, FHP training coordinator Luis Tejera said.

Here's how it works:

If one of the auxiliary troopers sees a suspected drunken driver weaving along, Tejera said, 'He'll get on the radio and say, `I have a potential DUI.' ''

The auxiliary trooper then describes the offender's driving behavior and asks for instructions.

'The sergeant or officer tells him, `Make the stop, I will meet you there,' '' Tejera said.

After the stop, the auxiliary trooper waits for the regular trooper, keeping his eye on the driver and taking his car keys if necessary. Then the regular trooper takes over.

Because limited-scope-patrol auxiliary officers work in close proximity to regular troopers, it shouldn't take long for a sworn officer to arrive on the scene, Tejera said.

The auxiliary troopers can ''take away the immediate threat, the immediate problem of an impaired driver,'' FHP Director Chris Knight said.

The program supports, but doesn't replace, the regular patrol, said Knight, adding that it ``creates more visibility, it creates more people from the patrol out there basically for public safety and assistance.''

There have been pilot projects allowing auxiliary officers to stop impaired drivers in other metropolitan areas dating back to 1997, but none with the scope of Miami-Dade's program, said Steven Sheffer, director of the FHP auxiliary. Statewide, including Miami, there are 75 to 90 auxiliary members who have completed limited scope patrol training.

''Miami has evolved and grown into a much more comprehensive approach,'' Sheffer said. ``Miami has done a lot of things very well.''

Hechevarria said the auxiliary job is satisfying.

SATISFYING JOB

''You feel good because you're actually doing something good, not for yourself, but for the motoring public out there,'' he said. Hechevarria works two evenings a week and almost every Saturday, mostly as the auxiliary's background investigator for new recruits. The 30 auxiliary troopers trained to make the traffic stops are among the 45 total auxiliary troopers in Miami-Dade.

Hechevarria went through a training program that includes 80 hours of defensive law enforcement tactics, 60 hours of delving into state laws and legal procedures, 48 hours of ''first responder'' medical care and CPR, 42 hours of firearms training, and 40 hours of driving training. Auxiliary troopers are not allowed to chase offenders.

Each auxiliary trooper in the program must complete 140 hours of riding along with two regular field training officers who instruct the auxiliary troopers in every facet of being an FHP member, Tejera said.

Richard Essen, a Miami attorney whose firm specializes in defending DUI cases, said he is opposed to the concept of auxiliary officers making stops. Only fully accredited police officers are allowed to make traffic stops under Florida law, he said.

''It would be in violation of the law if he is not a qualified police officer,'' Essen said. ``If they do it without changing the law first, it is an illegal arrest.''

Essen said it would be better if the auxiliary trooper followed the car and called for a full-time trooper to make the stop. But Tejera said it is not illegal for the auxiliary trooper to make the stop.

DETAINING DRIVERS

''They are not making the arrest,'' Tejera said. ``All they are doing is detaining this driver for a fully sworn law enforcement officer to make an arrest.''

Impaired and reckless drivers are not the auxiliary's main job, Tejera said. Auxiliary offers help troopers make arrests, control traffic at crashes and events and assist disabled motorists.

The 30 auxiliary troopers have stopped only five offenders since the program began midway through the summer, Tejera said.

Janet Mondshein, Miami-Dade executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, likes the program.

''If someone is driving down the road who is clearly impaired and there is an auxiliary officer there, I certainly prefer the auxiliary officer to stop the impaired driver before he kills someone or hurts somebody,'' she said.