Officers Complete Impaired Driving Training in Longview
Twelve officers from 10 agencies finished a 50-hour Standardized Field Sobriety Testing instructor course at Kilgore College's Longview campus.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Substance Abuse
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Twelve law enforcement officers representing 10 agencies completed a 50-hour Standardized Field Sobriety Testing instructor school at Kilgore College's Longview campus. The course, funded through a Texas Department of Transportation grant, covers topics from basic testing to advanced drug recognition.
Why it matters
Few Texas officers receive drug impairment recognition training, and every Texas police officer is trained on alcohol impairment. Better recognition is intended to build stronger impaired driving cases and help distinguish impairment from medical conditions.
The course trained 12 officers from 10 agencies, while more than 35% of Texas fatal highway incidents are tied to impaired driving and one person dies every three hours in such incidents. The number of officers who will eventually be trained by these instructors has not been reported.
The players
Kilgore College
Kilgore College is a public community college in East Texas that hosted the course at its Longview campus.
Texas Department of Transportation
The Texas Department of Transportation is the state agency that funds traffic safety programs, including this impaired driving training through a grant.
The details
Officers attending the course at Kilgore College's Longview campus will return to their departments and train colleagues on recognizing impaired driving. The Wood County area previously lacked an SFST instructor for local refresher courses, and attending officer from Mineola will train local law enforcement there.
Timeline
Article on the course completion published November 4, 2026.
Big Picture
The training builds on the standardized SFST protocol developed with NHTSA, extending it from alcohol-focused testing into advanced drug recognition that few Texas officers have received. Texas officers have historically been trained far more on alcohol than on drug impairment.
Drivers in Texas may see more consistent impaired driving enforcement as trained officers return to their agencies. Better recognition of drug impairment could reduce cases where medical conditions are mistaken for intoxication.
The takeaway
Impaired driving remains a serious threat on Texas roads, and recognizing both alcohol and drug impairment is central to prevention. Anyone who suspects a driver is impaired should contact local law enforcement.
Further reading
Explore more on Substance Abuse for context on impaired driving trends in Longview and across Texas.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Kltv.
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