Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Training topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners deny county facility use for planned ‘wet’ field-sobriety training; sheriff’s office expressed safety and oversight concerns
Summary
The board voted to deny a request from the City of Wagoner Police Department to use county facilities for a training that would involve volunteers consuming alcohol for field-sobriety instruction; the sheriff and commissioners cited liability, logistics and alternative training methods.
Wagoner County commissioners on Jan. 13 voted unanimously to deny a request to use county facilities for a field-sobriety training program in which volunteers would consume alcohol on county property to simulate impaired driving for instruction.
The item arose when county staff said the City of Wagoner Police Department sought use of the North Annex to conduct a “wet” alcohol workshop in which volunteers would consume alcohol and trainers would teach officers standard field-sobriety evaluations. County Sheriff Chris (last name not specified in the transcript) and other commissioners expressed concerns about liability, the difficulty of managing volunteers consuming alcohol on county property, and the availability of alternative training methods such as video-based instruction.
Sheriff Chris told the board he had not been notified earlier about the planned training and asked that the item be removed while the sheriff’s office reviewed the details. Commissioner Haney said the county had hosted similar trainings in the past but acknowledged that many law-enforcement agencies are moving away from live-consumption exercises because they are “very problematic” and labor intensive. After brief discussion, Commissioner Haney made a motion to deny the request; Commissioner Stamps seconded. The board voted in favor of denial on roll call.
