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GREAT RIVER, N.Y. (WABC) -- With boating season on the horizon, there was a special training session on Long Island.
Suffolk County officers who patrol the water were taught how to spot drunken boaters, and it had them actually interacting with drunken volunteers.
The volunteers were paid to get plastered.
Three Suffolk County workers and one spouse were plied by Suffolk County Police with drink after drink after drink.
"Oh my God, I'm so drunk. It's not funny," a female volunteer said.
"We actually intentionally dose volunteers, uh, alcohol," said Officer Charles Boyle, Suffolk County Police Department.
It's all to get them above the legal limit of .08% to display the physiological signs cops can use as probable cause for an arrest.
"We really need the real live intoxicated people so we can do the standardized field sobriety testing in a real life atmosphere," Boyle said.
With the summer boating season fast approaching, Suffolk County leaders are placing extra emphasis on this kind of training, as they plan stepped up enforcement on the water.
The emphasis comes in the wake of a spate of drunken boating incidents last summer, one of them fatal.
While the drinkers were partying, Marine Patrolmen, Coast Guard officers and other cops were studying them.
Then in the police academy gymnasium they put their knowledge to work.
They had to guess the drinkers' blood alcohol content before getting an official reading.
Police hope this extra knowledge will help keep people safer on the water, and it also was a great lesson for Chris Kelly, who was still blowing a .12, before he realized he was too drunk to drive.
"I shouldn't be driving home, I should either be arrested, or, should I be locked up and taken to jail," said Chris Kelly, a volunteer.
Video: [video]http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=9077898&pid=9078193[/video]
Story: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/long_island&id=9078193
Suffolk County officers who patrol the water were taught how to spot drunken boaters, and it had them actually interacting with drunken volunteers.
The volunteers were paid to get plastered.
Three Suffolk County workers and one spouse were plied by Suffolk County Police with drink after drink after drink.
"Oh my God, I'm so drunk. It's not funny," a female volunteer said.
"We actually intentionally dose volunteers, uh, alcohol," said Officer Charles Boyle, Suffolk County Police Department.
It's all to get them above the legal limit of .08% to display the physiological signs cops can use as probable cause for an arrest.
"We really need the real live intoxicated people so we can do the standardized field sobriety testing in a real life atmosphere," Boyle said.
With the summer boating season fast approaching, Suffolk County leaders are placing extra emphasis on this kind of training, as they plan stepped up enforcement on the water.
The emphasis comes in the wake of a spate of drunken boating incidents last summer, one of them fatal.
While the drinkers were partying, Marine Patrolmen, Coast Guard officers and other cops were studying them.
Then in the police academy gymnasium they put their knowledge to work.
They had to guess the drinkers' blood alcohol content before getting an official reading.
Police hope this extra knowledge will help keep people safer on the water, and it also was a great lesson for Chris Kelly, who was still blowing a .12, before he realized he was too drunk to drive.
"I shouldn't be driving home, I should either be arrested, or, should I be locked up and taken to jail," said Chris Kelly, a volunteer.
Video: [video]http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=9077898&pid=9078193[/video]
Story: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/long_island&id=9078193
