TECHNOLOGY > TRAINING

Field Sobriety Tests Go High Tech

SUPERIOR, Colo.—May 15, 2006—AcuNetx has filed for patent protection of its HawkEye HGN Trainer, which is manufactured and marketed by the company’s VisioNetx division.

In a recent announcement, the company described the HawkEye device as a training tool to help police learn to administer the Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST). HawkEye reportedly consists of a goggle-like frame intended to enable officers to manually test the eye movements and responses of a subject, while directly observing those movements and responses and capturing them live using infrared cameras. The subject’s captured eye responses can then be stored and played back for instructor critique, and as an ongoing training guide.

“Recently, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled that field sobriety tests are not scientific tests. They are merely observational tools that law enforcement officers commonly use to assist in discerning indications of intoxication, the perception of which is necessarily subjective,” said Terry Knapp, company president and chief executive.

In the announcement, the company added that it plans to launch later this year a “hardened” version of the HawkEye HGN Trainer, called EagleEye HGN Capture. Intended for roadside use from patrol cars, with communications links to the police station, EagleEye HGN Capture reportedly will enable officers to observe and document eye signs associated with SFST as well as with Drug Recognition Expert evaluations.

www.acunetx.com

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