Blood-draw program to target habitual offenders

COEUR d’ALENE — Who will draw the blood and where it is drawn, is the only difference.

That was the word from Coeur d’Alene police personnel who gave a presentation Wednesday to City Council members regarding a department plan to use phlebotomy-certified police officers to conduct blood draws on motorists.

There will be two certified officers, and police blood draws will only occur if circumstances warrant, Chief Lee White said.

“The only thing that changes with this program is the person who does the (blood) drawing,” White said.

And the blood draws will probably occur at the jail instead of at Kootenai Health.

Two Coeur d’Alene police officers are already certified as phlebotomists having completed academic testing and coursework, as well as field work under the supervision of Kootenai Health personnel.

The officers would only use their new certification under limited circumstances such as when a motorist with a history of DUIs causes a collision and refuses to participate in field sobriety tests or a breathalyzer test.

A judge’s signature on a search warrant must still be obtained, White said. But by circumventing a trip to the hospital for a blood draw and dealing with delays associated with that trip, which can take up to three hours, White said, evidence can be preserved.

“We would rather spend time getting habitual offenders off the road and giving prosecutors evidence they can use to prosecute,” he said.

Officer Nick Knoll, one of the department’s certified phlebotomists, said when it comes to taking blood samples, he puts aside his police persona and becomes a phlebotomist — a medical professional charged with drawing blood from a person in a safe manner.

“As I draw someone’s blood, I am a phlebotomist,” Knoll said. “I am not a police officer anymore.”

Knoll, part of the department’s traffic team, and another officer completed 30 hours of classroom instruction, 40 hours of field training and successfully drew more than 100 blood samples under medical supervision to obtain his certification, he said.

“Our job is to withdraw blood safely,” he said.

Departments in several western states have similar programs, including Nampa and Boise, and Utah has more than 400 registered law enforcement phlebotomists, he said.

In approximately one fourth of DUI arrests by his department, motorists refuse to take field sobriety or breath tests and police must apply for a search warrant to draw blood, he said.

Since last weekend, Knoll said, he arrested three people for DUI.

So far this year, the highest blood alcohol content (BAC) a motorist has displayed is .352, more than four times the .08 legal limit to drive in Idaho.

A motorist he arrested for weaving around traffic at 55 mph on Government Way near the Kootenai County Courthouse had a BAC of .16, Knoll said.

Based upon the man’s size, “He must have had at least 10 beers,” Knoll said.

Most people tell police they have had two beers when they are stopped under suspicion of DUI, but according to a chart police use, an average man weighing 200 pounds would have a blood alcohol content of .032 if he drank two beers with dinner over the span of an hour, he said.

That is far below the legal limit.

Knoll said police recently arrested a man who drank at a downtown bar while letting his son ride around town on a scooter. Around midnight the man retrieved his son, collided with a car in the parking lot and refused to take a field sobriety test or breath test. The man obstructed officers, he said.

Under Idaho law police had to apply for a search warrant to have the man’s blood drawn. The man was booked under suspicion of DUI and taken to the hospital for a blood draw.

“This is a tool for someone like that,” Knoll said.

Council members asked administrative questions regarding the process, but didn’t weigh in on the program.

Although police don’t require council approval of the measure, the department serves at the pleasure of the council and seeks council direction before moving forward with its plans, White said.

The department recently received a state award for its community action team (CAT) program. CAT team members work with community members to suppress crime in high risk areas. Similar to the law enforcement phlebotomy program, the CAT program used a progressive approach to crime fighting, according to the department.