EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

PRESENTATIONS

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

CONCLUSION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On February 24, 2000, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), hosted the Law Enforcement Executive Summit on Drugs, Driving and Youth, in Alexandria, Virginia. This summit brought together 63 state and local law enforcement executives to focus on the issue of youth alcohol, other drugs and driving. The goals were to: (1) review the variety of programs being used, (2) discuss implementation considerations to include any barriers that had to be overcome, and (3) recommend the direction of future programs. This report is a summary of the proceedings.

The involvement of young drivers in alcohol and other drug-related crashes is disproportional to their numbers on the highway. Approximately 7 percent of the licensed drivers are between the ages of 15 and 20. However, approximately 14 percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes are in this age group. The participants, representing a broad spectrum of the law enforcement community, were asked to expound on programs they are using to address and combat this problem. Comments made by the IACP's General Chairman from the State Association of Chiefs of Police, and the General Chairman of the State and Provincial Division of the IACP, helped to motivate and encourage the attendees. Participants were placed in one of three breakout sessions. The participants in each session were asked to discuss in detail the following three topics:

• What is the best solution to prevent youth from driving while impaired by alcohol and/or other drugs?
• What is the greatest obstacle that needs to be overcome in order to achieve prevention?
• What are the group's recommendations at the national level to overcome the aforementioned obstacles or to address this issue?

The highlights from these breakout groups indicate that training, community involvement, interagency cooperation and coordination are crucial to a program's success. Programs need to continually evolve, and input from the community and the officer on the street are essential. Participants also recommended that a catalog of successful programs be compiled for agencies searching for programs and ideas to be used in their communities.

This summit provided participants with the opportunity to share information as well as investigate and develop additional resources. It also provided a significant starting point for designing a comprehensive handbook of programs targeted at saving young lives and making our highways safer. This report is a compendium of the issues, programs and recommendations discussed during these breakout sessions.