COPS BRUSH UP ON DRUG TRICKS

Seminar Teaches Officers How To Stay One Step Ahead Of Smugglers

WORLEY, Idaho -- Drug smugglers, beware: police know your tactics.

They know about hiding drugs in fuel tanks, airbags and dashboards. About
smells that mask drugs' scents and signs that mean they'll need a search
warrant for a car.

More than 85 North Idaho law enforcement officers from state, local and
tribal agencies have spent three days in a classroom and hands-on training
at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Casino.

The seminar, paid for by a U.S. Department of Justice grant, helps on-
the-street deputies and undercover drug agents keep abreast of criminal
activities.

"The drug traffickers' goal is to always stay one step above law
enforcement," said John Parmann, police training specialist with the Idaho
Peace Officer Standards and Training Office. "We want to stay in front of
them."

One way is to continue to have regional training conferences like Desert
Snow, which continues today at the casino's events center.

Desert Snow, the name of the Arizona company run by husband-and-wife team,
Joe and Cindy David, trains thousands of officers around the world in
stopping major drug traffickers.

The company and conference are named after the location of the couple's
home -- the desert -- and the street name for cocaine -- snow.

The demand is so great for the free conference that Parmann had to turn
away dozens of officers. One officer called from as far away as Juneau, Alaska.

The key to the conference, designed by Joe David, an on-the-street cop from
a California law enforcement agency, gives officers the opportunity to test
their knowledge with hands-on experience.

David said he can't name his agency because his business is not connected
with it, and his other employer asked that he not use their name for
liability issues.

On Tuesday, teams of police moved from station to station with clipboards
in hand -- looking at pickups, sport utility vehicles and sedans -- to mark
signs that may make them suspicious during a traffic stop.

"We're looking for things that are not consistent with the motoring
public," Joe David said, standing in the middle of the conference hall as
officers studied the cars.

David declined to say what those signs were.

"We don't want to educate the bad guys," he said, smiling.

The conference is designed to help on-the-street patrol officers, who often
make traffic stops, look for evidence that signals more serious criminal
activity -- from drugs to explosives.

Idaho and the Inland Northwest have seen an explosion in the use of
methamphetamine, an illegal, but easy to manufacture stimulant.

Most of the region's methamphetamine comes from homemade, or "Beavis and
Butthead" labs, but there are increasing amounts of imported meth coming
through central Washington.

The skills the officers learn will apply not only to major drug smugglers
but to simple marijuana possession, Parmann said.

And officers expect arrest numbers to increase, since local officers have
been exposed to changing -- and sometimes extravagant -- techniques used by
criminals.

"They can conceal drugs in about any place," Parmann said. "The better we
get, the better they must get."