National Police Conference To Feature Laramie County Drunk Driving Lawn Mower Test

The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office set up a closed course lawnmower driving demonstration at Cowboy State Daily’s offices in Cheyenne last December to show the effects of impaired driving in real time. 

Now that demonstration will be presented at the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Impaired Driving and Traffic Safety Conference in August.

The purpose of the presentation, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak said, is to show different ways law enforcement agencies can engage with local media to get their messaging out. 

“We’re going to show that as a way that working with the media how we got the community involved in our priorities to reduce crashes,” Kozak said.

The sheriff’s office had to pitch the presentation, for which it was selected as a finalist.

The presentation will be part of a class the sheriff’s office will be conducting called “The West Wasn’t Won By Sitting On Your Porch, Effective Strategies For Leadership In Traffic Safety.”

The demonstration, which featured well-known Wyoming columnist Rod Miller plowing through cones along the course set up in the CSD parking lot, was chosen as a finalist to be shown at the conference in Chicago to showcase how the sheriff’s office has addressed traffic safety.

“Just showing how we’ve taken a sheriff’s office, which essentially did zero traffic safety enforcement, really just increased the morale and effectiveness of the agency to reduce traffic crashes and the strategies we’ve used to do that and how we’ve got the community engaged into what we’re doing,” Kozak said.

Miller said it's great that his inebriation will be featured on the big screen but is demanding free passes for him and his friends to attend the showing.

"Sheriff Kozak is always thinking of unpredictable ways and thinking outside the box to get his message across and I love it," Miller said. "I'm down to help out in any way I can."

The demonstration was inspired by a 1979 episode of the television comedy “WKRP In Cincinnati” where radio host Dr. Johnny Fever participates in a drunk reflex test to demonstrate the hazards of drinking and driving.

Strong Reaction

Kozak said the demonstration, which was covered by Cowboy State Daily with a story and video at the time, gained a strong, positive reaction from the Cheyenne community. 

By taking a light-hearted approach to a serious topic, Kozak believes they were much more effective in reaching their desired audience, specifically receiving compliments for their unique approach.

“A lot of people saw that and we got a lot of feedback on that as a way to bring attention to impaired driving, but do it in a funny way,” Kozak said. “It catches people’s attention more than having a serious tone.”

Kozak also said some of their older constituents recognized the test was inspired by the “WKRP In Cincinnati” episode. 

Part Of A Larger Effort

The drunk driving demonstration was just one piece of a larger effort Kozak has taken to offer a more light-hearted approach to public service announcements (PSAs).

Earlier this month, the department put out a video featuring a deputy offering to test people’s methamphetamine to make sure the cartels didn’t put too much Fentanyl in it, free of charge. The video blew up on Facebook, garnering 38,000 views, which Kozak said led to them gaining 4,000 followers in just a few days.

Why this is valuable, Kozak said, is because if his agency has a serious message it needs to get out about a lost child, there’s that many more people that will receive this important message.

“We just get more people involved that way,” he said.

Last month, a sheriff’s office deputy impersonating President Donald Trump gave locals a speech on how to arrange vehicle identification number (VIN) inspections with sheriff’s personnel as an effort to “Make VINInspections Great Again.”

“Who would’ve thought that you can make VIN checks actually interesting?” Kozak said.

Kozak has also tailor-made a "Catch A Fugitive" for the sheriff’s department Facebook page. Similar to "The Price Is Right" game Plinko, Kozak’s game is called Clinko and is played the same way: Drop a ball or a chip through a series of pegs and it ends up in one of the slots at the bottom, each adorned with the mugshot of one of Laramie County’s Top 10 most wanted fugitives. Kozak said the game has made a real effect on catching these criminals.

Around the Super Bowl, the sheriff’s office also put out a commercial featuring a man getting tackled to the ground before getting into and driving his truck as part of its message to not “get sacked with a DUI.” Kozak said this commercial played hundreds of times in the lead up to the big game.

As part of their High Visible Enforcement (HIVE) program, they’ve also done humorous presentations involving a cat typing on a computer trying to warn people the agency was performing a sting.

Kozak said there aren’t many other law enforcement agencies throughout the country that take the same humorous approach to producing PSAs and commercials as his office does.

“I think we’re pretty unique in what we’re doing,” he said.

Contact Leo Wolfson at leo@cowboystatedaily.com

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.