A training workshop was held last week in Rugby for area law enforcement officers on the subject of standardized field sobriety testing.

Officers representing the sheriff’s departments from Wells, Sheridan, Bottneau and Pierce counties and the city police departments of Rugby and Cando attended the eight-hour training.

Luis Coca, Rugby police chief, said it was designed to keep officers up to date on the changes to DUI laws and review

field sobriety testing procedures which include a walk and turn, one leg stand and a horizontal gaze nystagmus.

The training also honed officers’ skills on observing vehicles in motion to detect possible moving violations which often lead to DUI arrests.

Coca said after the initial traffic stop is made, officers aretrained to look for indicators of whether the driver is impaired, including slurred speech.

Pierce County’s Sheriff’s Department and the Rugby Police Department are part of a DUI multi-jurisdiction task force which sets up various training workshops for officers. The course was taught by Sgt. Kevin Schwandt with the Devils Lake Police Department and who is a certified for DUI and drug recognition.