By Kathryn Depauw
The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A total of 948 law enforcement officers across the state had their Intoxilyzer-9000 certifications lapse before they completed the recertification process that’s required to operate the instrument, Michigan State Police said.
State police reviewed three separate training databases of the nearly 10,400 officers in the system statewide and confirmed that 948 of them had certifications that had expired, Spl/Lt. Ashley Miller, 7th District public information officer, said.
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The review came after learning of recertification issues with the Intoxilyzer 9000, a breath alcohol testing instrument, that could impact alcohol-related cases across the state, including 41 cases in Grand Traverse County.
Alcohol-related cases questioned as statewide certification issue comes to light
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The state police are legislatively mandated to manage the fleet of breath alcohol instruments which are installed in county jails and other locations around Michigan and to handle the training and certification process for officers.
When they learned of this issue, state police officials said they immediately worked with the Michigan Sheriffs Association and the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police to notify their member agencies across the state and assist them with obtaining the data needed to correct those training and certification issues, Miller said.
As previously reported, the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP) became aware of the problem Aug. 20 , at about the same time as officials in Grand Traverse County, after the sheriff’s office had contacted partnering law enforcement agencies.
The MACP then reached out to the state police to see if their concerns were warranted and “we found out that they were,” Executive Director Ronald Wiles, Jr. said.
Wiles said his organization has been connecting with police departments around the state, making sure they have up-to-date information and understand what steps to take to properly recertify their officers.
A review revealed that the Intoxilyzer 9000 would accept dates other than the operator’s actual certification date and allow them to complete the breath analysis.
When asked if the machine is capable of verifying the certification date prior to use, Miller said it is the operator’s responsibility to ensure that their certification is valid on the date they are using it.
Officers were also allowed to renew their lapsed certification through an online training course, an avenue only legally allowed to those whose certification has not yet lapsed. Once certification has lapsed, in-person training is required.
Operators and their agencies are responsible for ensuring their personnel are current with training requirements, Miller said, but the state made a change earlier this year to make it easier for them to keep track.
The state previously used an online learning management system that did not notify officers when their certification expired. The officers would have had to write it down or keep track of it for two years.
But, on Jan. 1, 2026 , the state switched to another platform, which will notify officers when they are 90, 60 and 30 days out from their credentials expiring.
In addition, officials at the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office and the Traverse City Police Department said they have made internal changes to ensure their staff is properly certified and to avoid any lapses in the future.
The Intoxilyzer 9000 was adopted across Michigan in 2023 and created a two-year recertification process that did not exist with the previously used machine. This means that many of the officers who had been trained on the use of the device had their certification expire within the last year.
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