PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. -- A group of volunteers gulped down alcohol Wednesday night, all in an effort to help Prairie Village police officers train.

A dozen officers were in the first of three days of intense training on how to spot drunken drivers.

Adam Taylor, field sobriety instructor for the state of Kansas, led the class. He worked with the officers on procedures to take, while six volunteers were drinking alcohol just down the hall from the officers in training.

The idea of using the drinking volunteers was to tell who was legally drunk and who wasn't.

"You will be able to see signs," Taylor said.

Across the Kansas City metro, agencies are seeing an increase in alcohol-related crashes and fatalities. A number of agencies are receiving grants to pay for extra enforcement or putting more officers on the streets to find and stop impaired drivers.

Taylor said those officers can make a difference, but they have to know what they are doing.

"We show how to identify them," Taylor said. "We do that so the offender won't do it again"

The volunteers received rides home Wednesday night. Taylor said all officers need to keep up on their training and education to keep their certifications, so these types of classes are constantly given around the state.