This course will teach you how to safely and legally conduct criminal patrol and interdiction activities and locate contraband hidden within vehicles. Much more than just looking beyond the traffic stop, this course will explore the entire process from initiating the traffic stop to locating and securing the evidence.

You will learn how to investigate deeper using the basic techniques of roadside interviews and how to recognize body language that may indicate criminal activity or a threat to your safety. The laws surrounding search and seizure will be examined including probable cause and consent searches.

We will also show you how to identify the hidden compartments that exist naturally in vehicles and those that have been mechanically installed by smugglers. You will learn how to gain access to these compartments without destroying the contraband and how to properly collect, preserve, and process the evidence while maintaining the chain of custody.

Topics Include

• Smuggling techniques
• Criminal patrol procedures and practices
• Legal issues involving stops, citizen contacts, searches and seizures
• Characteristics of smugglers
• Evidence collection and crime scene processing
• Roadside interviewing and interrogation techniques
• Vehicle search techniques
• Body language and stress
• Traffic stops and officer safety
• Detecting hidden compartments

Audience

Patrol officers, specialized units that actively perform traffic stops and supervisors of units that actively perform traffic stops

Course Length

32 hours