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Posted October 17, 2012 6:36 pm | Filed under Local News
By

Andrew Kiel | WRHI.com
A handful of York County Sheriff’s Deputies underwent DUI re-certification training this week and deputies pulled back the curtain to show how officers are trained to detect impaired drivers.

While much of the training is classroom-based, the deputies were able to test subjects hands-on Wednesday to give themselves a benchmark of how an impaired driver would react to field sobriety tests. Master Deputy Jon Osborne.

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Year-to-date in 2012, York County Sheriff’s Deputies have made 188 DUI arrests — a stark increase over the 137 total DUI arrests in 2011.

Osborne says the tests give officers a benchmark as to how to accurately give suspected drunk drivers field sobriety tests.

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And while sobriety tests seen on TV — like walking in a straight line — are part of the test, one of the more accurate sobriety tests involves measuring eye movement.

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Osborne says there are a number of tests — called cues — that when added together, help determine if a suspect is driving above the legal limit. Osborne says giving every suspected drunk driver a breathalyzer test is, among other things, just not practical.

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The three test subjects in Wednesday’s training were kept under close supervision all day and were driven to and from the county’s training center.

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