MA Police Training Manual - OUI Stop Field Sobriety Tests
PRELIMINARY BREATH TESTING
The basic purpose of preliminary breath testing
(PBT) is to demonstrate the association of alcohol with the observable evidence
of the suspect’s impairment. The suspect’s impairment is established through
sensory evidence: what the officer sees, hears and smells. The PBT provides the
evidence that alcohol is the chemical basis of that impairment by yielding an
on-the-spot indication of the suspect’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The
PUT provides direct indication of the BAC level. It does not indicate the level
of the suspect’s impairment. Impairment varies widely among individuals with
the same BAC level.
Preliminary breath testing, like psychophysical
testing, is a stage in the prearrest screening of a DWI suspect. Usually the
suspect is not yet under arrest when requested to submit to the preliminary
breath test. The DWI incident remains at the investigative stage; the accusatory
stage has not yet begun. The PBT result is only one of many factors the officer
considers in determining whether the suspect should be arrested for DWI. It
should never be the sole basis for a DWI arrest. The PUT result is an important
factor because it provides direct indication of alcohol impairment. All other
evidence, from initial observation of the vehicle in operation through formal
psychophysical testing, indicates alcohol impairment.
ADVANTAGES OF PBT
A PBT offers several important advantages for DWI
detection. It may:
• corroborate
other evidence by demonstrating that the suspicion of alcohol impairment is
consistent with the officer’s observations of the suspect’s mental and
physical impairment.
• confirm
the officer’s own judgment and help gain confidence in evaluating alcohol
impairment accurately, based on observations and psychophysical tests. (Many
officers experienced in DWl
enforcement find that they rely less and
less on the PBT as their confidence in their own powers of detection increases.)
• disclose the possibility of medical
complications or impairment due to drugs other than alcohol. (The PBT can
confirm or deny that alcohol is the cause of the observed impairment. For
example, observed psychophysical impairment coupled with a PBT result showing a
very low BAC indicates an immediate need to investigate the possibility that the
suspect has ingested a drug other than alcohol or suffers from a medical
problem.)
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