Volunteers get drunk to aid officers’ DWI training

By Russell Kinsaul

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    ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — On Tuesday, a group of deputies at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spent the day learning about making traffic stops of drivers suspected of driving impaired and learning how to conduct field sobriety tests. This time around the instructors wanted the training to be more realistic.

“For years we’ve used videos, and it just doesn’t seem to have the same effect. When you get someone in front of you that’s actually intoxicated you can see it first hand,” said Deputy Nicholas Gamm.

The sheriff’s office put out a call for volunteers to get drunk and play the role of an impaired driver and got an overwhelming response. Kyle Weiss is one of the four selected to participate and is a former police officer.

“So if I can do my part to help them hone their skills just a little bit better in here, that when they get out there and they’re top notched officers,” said Weiss.

Tim Pudlowski is another volunteer selected to participate. He’s a defense attorney who sometimes represents clients accused of drunk driving. He said he wanted to see the process from the other side.

“I can get something out of it because I see how they perform the field sobriety test on me and I can potentially use that to my advantage,” he said.

In recent years, Jefferson County has seen a steady increase in DWI arrests. In 2020 deputies made 358 DWI arrests, in 2021 they recorded 402 arrests and in 2022 there were 556 DWI arrests in the county.

Deputy Nicholas Gamm was one of the instructors at the training and is a member of the sheriff’s office DWI enforcement unit.

“I truly feel in my heart with every drunk I arrest I’m saving at least one life that night,” said Gamm.

After the volunteers spent a couple of hours drinking their favorite alcoholic beverages, deputies took turns putting them through a field sobriety test. Gamm said giving officers the chance to watch a person, in person, exhibit the signs of impairment is more effective training than watching it on video.

According to the sheriff’s office, the alcohol used in the training was purchased with donated funds and no tax dollars were used.

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