State Grant to Fund Phlebotomy Training for Police Officers
Law enforcement agencies across the state of Arizona recently announced that they will increasing the number of law enforcement officers who will receive phlebotomy training next year. This training is used for the purpose of determining the blood alcohol concentration of an individual suspected of driving under the influence. Over the past fifteen years, law enforcement agencies have begun to move away from Breathalyzer testing in favor of blood samples drawn by phlebotomists because they are considered far more accurate and are subject to far fewer challenges by defense attorneys.
The money used to fund the training of these law enforcement officers is part of a $4.5 million grant package the state annually receives from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The state of Arizona has been provided this grant because of its status as an opportunity state, where nearly one third of traffic fatalities are linked to drinking and driving. This grant will allow the Governor's Office of Highway Safety to put about 170 extra officers through the five day phlebotomy training program, in addition to the 100 slots available to Arizona law enforcement officers last year.
Arizona state officials have begun to realize that, in light of the constant challenges to breath alcohol test evidence, blood evidence is more likely to lead to a driving under the influence conviction. According to Alan Haywood, officer and program coordinator for the Department of Public Safety, "Breath testing is primarily used throughout the state, but blood is being used more and more. We call it the CSI effect: Juries and judges want evidence, and they like the blood."
However, this training of police officers has raised a large amount of concern amongst criminal defense attorneys as well as the general public. By training officers to perform the duties of a phlebotomist, many worry that the likelihood of drawing a suspect's blood on the side of the road in unsafe conditions will skyrocket. Fortifying these concerns are recent statements made by Pima County Sheriff's Deputy, Koi Greene, who stated that the hands on training she received as part of the five day phlebotomy training made her increasing comfortable with the idea of drawing blood from a DUI suspect on the side of the road.
This confidence in roadside blood draws directly contradicts Pima County Superior Court Judge Fields' ruling made in late October which emphasized that the Arizona Department of Public Safety's (DPS) practice of drawing blood from individuals on the side of the road did not satisfy the state's health precautions laid out by the Department of Public Safety. According to Judge Fields, the high likelihood that the blood draw would occur in an environment ill suited for such testing elevates the possibility of infection to unacceptable levels.
Defense attorneys across Arizona have spoken out against this training, saying that an officer's ability to draw blood will result in blood work being done in situations and under circumstances that are not in the best interest of the suspect. According to Tucson criminal defense attorney, James Nesci, "You need a license to cut hair in Arizona, but you don't need a license to puncture a vein and draw blood. That in and of itself is frightening. There are a couple (of) other things that go along with that. Was the person who drew your blood mad at you? Was it an adversarial situation?"
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