On Wednesday, Oct. 20, the Hays Police Department hosted an honor guard training conference in Gym B from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The Hays Police Department Honor Guard is a local honor guard that is tasked with duties, such as posting colors at ceremonies, posting colors at sporting events, assisting with funerals such as being casket watch or pallbearers, folding flags at funerals or events or even doing security medical watches.

The Hays Honor Guard consists of eight members who are of the same rank, as these responsibilities are not determined by the rank they have, but by showing an equal amount of proper respect.

During the training, the members went over the manual that they use to know what to train for and the criteria.

“I thought it went very well,” sergeant David Vilaysing, the Honor Guard coordinator, said. “We crammed a lot of material into two hours, but I think the guys did a really good job and picked up some stuff. We’ve gotten several officers that are new to the units, and so, it was good to get them out there and get some training with us.”