Hundreds Of Law Enforcement Officers In Tulsa For Training

Most crimes involve some type of transportation, whether it's moving drugs, guns, cash, human smuggling, even terrorists moving bombs.

More than 800 law enforcement officers are in Tulsa this week learning about how to stop these types of crimes.

Whether criminals are transporting contraband in cars, commercial vehicles, airplanes or by mail, the street level uniformed officer is likely going to be the one to encounter them. That's what this week's training is all about.

Well trained K9 units are a critical part of interdiction which is why OHP has been giving demonstrations. Dogs are often a big help finding hidden compartments criminals use to transport drugs or money.

Iowa Trooper Haas has seen it all in his 15 years working interdiction. He was recently chosen as the national interdiction officer of the year.

"There's an unbelievable amount of narcotics being trafficked across our nation's highways and interstates. It's shocking to me," Haas said.

A mock meth lab was set up to teach officers how to identify meth ingredients being transported. They say meth affects innocent citizens in ways they never know.

"People don't realize, across the country more than 60 percent of identity theft is meth related, home burglaries 80 percent, even sex crimes are meth related," said Donald Rothenbaum, NES

This is why more than 800 officers from all over the country are in Tulsa for the National Interdiction conference. It's all about stopping criminals who are more mobile than ever, in an effort to protect the rest of us.

"I don't care what type of crime organization you're talking about, the vehicle is the weakest link. Bad guys have to get from point A to point B," said OHP Trooper Branson Perry.

The conference is put on by the National Criminal Enforcement Association and Desert Snow corporation and hosted by OHP.