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Boozers wanted in police exercise Volunteers would aid West Homestead's force in sobriety training Monday, December 20, 1999 By Jan Ackerman, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
West Homestead police are looking for a few serious drinkers.
Not to arrest, but to observe.
The officers plan to sponsor an event in February where they will provide hard liquor -- whiskey, gin, vodka and rum -- to a select group of volunteer drinkers.
The booze will be free, but there are some catches.
Participants have to agree to drink before breakfast.
They have to drink until they are legally intoxicated.
They have to cooperate with police officers who want to examine the whites of their eyes and have them blow into a machine that measures their intoxication level.
"Basically, we will give them alcohol, have them drink for an hour and have them blow into a Breathalyzer," said West Homestead Patrolman James R. Ciocco. He is looking for about 21 volunteers to act as guinea pigs in a program to train police to make better arrests of drunken drivers.
The course in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing is offered by the Traffic Institute for Police Services in Harrisburg, which instructs police across the state in alcohol enforcement, traffic stops, accident investigation training and legal issues.
Kurt Braun, curriculum development specialist, said the institute has been running similar training sessions around the state for years to help police improve their skills in identifying and arresting drunken drivers.
According his organization's schedule of events, police departments in Pittsburgh and Butler also are planning to offer the program early next year.
"Thousands of police have gone through this program," Braun said.
The institute opened in 1980 as part of the state Department of Education. Its training programs, which are free, are underwritten by money from the National Highway Safety Administration.
Braun said the four-day course in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing helps police sharpen their skills in identifying drunken drivers and making arrests that will withstand legal challenges.
"One of the problems is that police build cases based on observations and opinion," Braun said. "This program was clinically developed, giving them scores."
West Homestead police expect to need about 21 volunteer drinkers for their four-day police training seminar Feb. 22 to 25. The drinking demonstration will be held on only two of the four days. Each volunteer will drink only one day.
Ciocco said no beer or wine will be served. Bourbon, scotch, gin or vodka will be served because "it gets into their blood systems rapidly," he said.
Braun said many volunteer drinkers are people who are interested in doing community service and in getting some personal information about their own capacity to drink.
"I have had judges, defense attorneys, college students, housewives and probation officers," he said.
There's no money in this for the drinkers -- just free alcohol and the experience.
"A lot of people find it to be educational," Braun said.
Volunteers start drinking at 8:30 a.m. and usually are done and hungover by 1:30 p.m. Everyone who participates must be picked up and dropped off.
"Someone has to sign and take them home," Braun said.
Braun noted that police try not to allow the volunteers' alcohol level s to exceed 0.14. In Pennsylvania, a person can be arrested for drunken driving if the blood alcohol level is 0.10 or higher.
He said participants are fed at the end.
No one is released until their blood alcohol level drops to below 0.05.
Braun, however, said participants have a good time.
"It is something to watch. We put all these people into this room who don't know each other," he said. "They are laughing and telling jokes as they reach their level of inebriation."
As the morning wears on, "they reach their level and there is a change," Braun said. He said that's the way people are supposed to behave when they drink.
"As it goes on, it depresses you and quiets you down," he said.
"We have a cap of 15 ounces of alcohol," he added. "Each individual is dosed according to his physical makeup. We monitor it closely."
Occasionally, a volunteer drinker will get silly, or mean, or sick in their stomach. Occasionally, a participant will drink the 15 ounces and still not register above a 0.10. Braun said that's often because they have a different kind of metabolism.
"We have had a lot of things happen over the years," he said.
The application process places a number of restrictions on applicants. Anyone who has a history of drug or alcohol abuse is disqualified.
The police do not want people with heart, lung, circulation and brain disorders, emotional disorders, vertigo, Meniere's disease (an inner ear disorder), multiple sclerosis, poliomyelitis and epilepsy to apply.
Woman are disqualified if they are pregnant or taking birth control pills. Anyone more than 45 pounds overweight cannot participate.
The program also bars people who have been convicted of crimes or are on probation or court supervision.
Besides the sobriety test seminar, West Homestead police are sponsoring the following programs for police: In-car video, Jan. 11; Search and Seizure, March 7; Underage Drinking and Juvenile Offender, March 22; and Act 64, July 10.
The seminars will be offered at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 91 at 676 W. Eighth Ave., West Homestead. There is no cost to police officers who sign up for the Traffic Institute's training programs in West Homestead or at any police department.
Anyone who is interested in the West Homestead programs should call 412-461-1116 and ask for Ciocco. He said applications for students and volunteer drinkers need to be returned to him about 60 days before the programs begin.
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