A basement meeting area in the Omaha Law Enforcement training center looked more like a house party than a police facility Thursday afternoon. Volunteers met there for three hours to down drinks in the name of police training.
Douglas county prosecutor Matt Kuhse sat among the group, made of up about a dozen people from the County Attorney’s office.
“We see what the officers have to go through to learn how to do this, the skills they have to develop to testify to do this kind of process, and for prosecutors it's helpful, in the fact that you understand what it means for someone to be at .08 or above .15,” said Kuhse.
The “Wet Lab” training is a requirement for officers—part of a 40 hour training session for new OPD recruits, who are supposed to be knowledgeable enough to know if the volunteers are impaired through field sobriety tests.
Officers began their testing three hours after the first pour.
“[We want them to] detect impairment from someone that has been under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs because of some curriculum we teach, and determine whether or not somebody is able to operate a motor vehicle in a save manner,” said police lieutenant Laurie Scott.
Kuhse walked through the test more than once. Supervising officers said his BAC was .084 before the testing began.
Police gave all volunteers a ride home after the test.
