Volunteers Toss Back Drinks So Police Can Lock Up Drunks

Ten volunteers, including a Laguna Beach city councilwoman, threw back tumblers of whiskey, vodka kamikazes and Bloody Marys on Wednesday to help police officers gain experience with drunkenness.

“They’ve donated their bodies to science,” said Laguna Beach Police Lt. Bill Cavenaugh, who developed the three-day seminar to teach officers how to prepare a case against a suspected drunk driver that will hold up in court.

About 100 police officers from 49 California law enforcement agencies attended the seminar at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, which ended Wednesday with the five-hour drinking spree.

“I have slurrrred speech,” said Kari Armstrong, 26, of Mission Viejo, shortly after groups of sober officers directed her through a battery of field sobriety tests and tried to guess her blood-alcohol content.

One volunteer stumbled on the plush red carpet while walking a less-than-straight line for officers; another nearly fell over while balancing on one leg and had to be caught by the officers testing her.

“This exercise may look a little silly here,” Cavenaugh said, “but we’re trying to give them (officers) good experience to prepare them for court.”

The drinking problem is anything but humorous: In 1986, 2,543 people died in accidents caused by drunk drivers in California, with 659 of the deaths occurring in Los Angeles and Orange counties, said Janet Cater of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

“We’ve had cases where the district attorney has really been handicapped by the officer not having done a good job . . . and allows the defendant to get off the hook by being able to plea bargain or have the case dismissed,” said Cater, who supports Cavenaugh’s program.

At the seminar, a prosecutor, defense attorney and Superior Court judge told the officers how to prepare a strong case against a drunk driver, testify before a jury and survive a hostile cross-examination by a defense attorney.

A doctor discussed the effects of alcohol on the body and several veteran law enforcement officers explained how to detect and test a suspected drunk driver.

“We’re sending these officers out of here ready to do a good job,” said Cavenaugh, who has watched his seminar grow from a one-day lecture for Laguna Beach police officers in 1986 to a training program accredited by the Police Officers Standards of Training that attracts officers from throughout the state.

Laguna Beach City Councilwoman Martha Collison joined the volunteer drinkers, who tossed down vodka kamikazes, Bloody Marys, beer and other cocktails from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Before coming through this, I would have not thought I was impaired,” said Richard Hasenohrl, who woozily could not remember how many whiskey and 7-Ups he had consumed.

“Now I would know I am impaired and I would think twice or three times about drinking and driving,” said Hasenohrl, 39, of Orange.