Anthony D. Palacios
DRE/SFST Expert
Anthony Palacios is an award-winning, nationally renowned Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) consultant for Impaired Driving Specialists, LLC. Anthony is a former SFST State Coordinator for the State of Georgia and a former SFST/DRE Staff Instructor for the Georgia Police Academy at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Anthony is a former International Association Chiefs of Police certified DRE Practitioner, DRE Instructor, and DRE Instructor-Trainer, as well as a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration SFST Practitioner, SFST Instructor, and SFST Instructor-Trainer.
While in law enforcement, Anthony trained approximately 3,000 City, County, State, and Federal law enforcement officers and prosecutors in the detection of drivers under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Prior to becoming a SFST/DRE Staff Instructor for the Georgia Police Academy, Anthony was 1 of the original members of his law enforcement agency’s DUI Task Force. After serving almost 3 years on the DUI Task Force, Anthony was selected as 1 of the original members of his agency’s fatal/serious injury crash reconstruction team.
Because of his expertise in teaching the NHTSA Impaired Driving training curricula, Anthony was selected by NHTSA as 1 of only a few SFST Instructors from across the country to serve on NHTSA’s Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) Assessment Team. The purpose of the Assessment Team was to evaluate states’ SFST training programs around the country and provide guidance and expertise on how to improve the delivery, and therefore the effectiveness, of the NHTSA DWI/SFST training curriculum to officers.
In 2006, Anthony was a recipient of the “Outstanding Service” award from the Georgia Chapter of MADD. In 2018 and again in 2022, Anthony was a recipient of the “Best of the Best” award from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, an honor given to the top 20 CLE speakers in the country each year.
Since forming Impaired Driving Specialists, LLC in 2008, Anthony has consulted in over 2500 impaired driving related criminal and civil cases in 40 different states. Additionally, Anthony has contributed to several national and state DWI/DRE publications and has lectured overseas, nationally, and at state conferences on DWI/SFST & DRE related topics for judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys.
(Complete Vitae available upon request)