Driving with a pair of "drunk goggles" on was a wild ride Thursday for Police Chaplain Alverta Smith.
"I tore up a couple of the traffic cones," she said.
Smith was one of about 200 police chaplains who attended the International Conference of Police Chaplains held this week at the Texarkana, Texas, Convention Center. Thursday was the last day of the convention and chaplains went through an enrichment program at the Texarkana, Texas, Police Operations center near Spring Lake Park. The enrichment included seminars on impaired driving, K-9 encounters and traffic stops.
"It helps them get an idea of what the officers go through," said Sgt. Geoffrey Lewis, spokesman for TTPD.
Hundreds of police chaplains from across Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas were in Texarkana completing training that will help them better serve their departments and communities.
Since 2016, Texarkana, Texas, Police Department Lt. Shawn Fitzgerald has been working with local TTPD Chaplain Tommy Gaither, also the pastor of Walnut Church of Christ and a member of the group, to bring this conference to Texarkana. In 2017, Jennifer Montoya, director of Convention Services for the Convention Center traveled to Branson, Mo., to bid on the conference and earn the business for the 2018 event.
Smith traveled from the St. Louis area. She is a chaplain with the University City Police Department and also a registered nurse.
"The drunk goggles" made it hard for her to walk the white line painted on the ground. But she did it with the assistance of TTPD Officer Karey Parker.
Other seminars offered information on church safety, stress management and disaster response.
For more information, visit Icpc4cops.org.
The International Conference of Police Chaplains was founded in 1973 by Washington, D.C., Police Chaplain Joseph Dooley.