Conway officers practice field sobriety test on students

CONWAY, AR - Wednesday night, ten college students got drunk at the Conway Police Department as part of a training exercise for officers.

The training programs happen regularly all over the country.

All of the students were 21 or older. Officers picked up the students at home and dropped them off after the training.

“The friend that I went through to get the volunteers, he sent me a text message and he said they all fell like it’s a setup. That we’re trying to lure them to the police department for an arrest or something,” says Conway Police Detective Jason Cameron.

Cameron played the role of bartender. The officers kept track of every ounce of alcohol each student had during a two-hour period.

“Whenever you’re not drinking, and your around people who are drinking, obviously you can pay attention to what they’re doing and what their behavior is like and you can just see a progression,” says Camerson.

Students blew into the breathalyzer and officers recorded their blood alcohol elvels. All were legally drunk. Several students blew over 0.15%.

Then, the students took field sobriety tests to give the officers a chance to test their skills to see how well they can handle drunk people.

“Our goal is to increase the number of officers tht are on the street that can look for and recognize someone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” says Cameron.

The students all signed releases, and the officers dropped them off at home with someone who was sober. That person then became responsible for the student for the rest of the night.