CURWENSVILLE – Local police are wrapping up a three-day driving under the influence of alcohol training in Curwensville today.
The officers are receiving instruction in Standardized Field Sobriety Testing by the Institute for Law Enforcement Education. The training will be complete just before the start of the annual Operation Safe Holiday enforcement period.
Operation Safe Holiday is an annual impaired driving law enforcement mobilization that focuses on the state’s highway safety laws from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. The Thanksgiving holiday period experienced the highest number of accidents and fatalities of any major holiday season last year. There were 4,328 accidents and 53 fatalities during the period, which included the weekends before and after the holiday, as well as the holiday itself.
As part of this week’s training, volunteers were “dosed” with alcohol before police officers were given the opportunity to carry out field sobriety tests on them. Officers were then provided the opportunity to look for signs of impairment through a series of tests in which the dosed volunteers may have exhibited signs of alcohol intoxication.
Officers must pass a comprehensive evaluation at the completion of the course.
All volunteers for the training were provided with transportation to and from the testing site.
The Clearfield County DUI Strike Force facilitated the training for the area. Local business donors for the event included Adam’s Golden Grill, Brother’s Pizza, Catamount Consulting LLC, Curry Technology Services, Curwensville Rescue, Hose & Ladder/The Smoke House, Dan’s Pro Shop, Goodman’s Foodliner and Snappy’s/Subway of Curwensville.
