This course is designed for the pro-active police officer looking to expand their knowledge of criminal interdiction. The instructor has developed a program for both rookie and seasoned officers to better understand how Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO’S) operate and how to best position yourself to win during a traffic stop. Officers will learn how to take a disciplined approach to locating, identifying, and seizing narcotics, illicit currency, and other contraband. This course will explain the legal process of identifying vehicles engaged in criminal activity, how to recognize criminal behavior, how to effectively search vehicles during a traffic stop, and how to recognize advanced concealment methods utilized by DTO’S.

Instructor Brian Konopka will discuss how to conduct interdiction efforts on our nation’s interstates, highways, and country roads. The student will learn to articulate reasonable suspicion and probable cause based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding a traffic stop. The student will learn to build a criminal interdiction case from start to finish by recognizing reactions to police presence, identifying deceptive behavior, understanding the life of a mule, how to ask for consent during a traffic stop, and more.

Additional topics of discussion will include: identifying cigarette traffickers and how cigarette smuggling funds terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas; Free tools that proactive cops should use to build their case, how to articulate observations observed during the course of a traffic stop, and furthering the investigation beyond the stop.