MERIDIAN, Idaho — "Top Gun" closed out a week of training for undercover officers and prosecutors Friday with live simulated drug busts at Meridian’s Public Safety Training Center.
The week-long course is aimed at building a connected system of trained investigators and prosecutors working proactively to gather information and investigate narcotic offenses.
Lieutenant Jess Stennett with Idaho State Police led the third annual training through classroom work and live exercises.
"They learn the basics of phone tolls to learning how to look at where drugs are being brought into their states," Stennett said. "It gets to create a network for them when they leave here, so that when the students go back to their home agencies, if they have an investigation that leads back – say, to somewhere in Montana, but it started somewhere, maybe in Idaho – they have a name and a number to talk to and say, 'hey, we went to Top Gun together, and now I've got a real life drug dealer that is traveling throughout the interstates to my state,' and then they can work together to help broaden their investigation and take down larger conspiracies."
Top Gun comes together through a multi-agency effort including support from area law enforcement, the Idaho National Guard and the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program (HIDTA).
Canyon County Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Haws has participated in the past and said he enjoys the fun the group has.
“It's allows me an opportunity to see how these officers act in situations that are stressful," Haws said. "This is meant to engage them in such a way where they are so highly trained that when they see something on the street, they've already dealt with something at a higher level, and they know what they're doing and they can handle it appropriately. Being able to be a part of that, being able to see how they handle those situations, present them with situations that we know that they're going to see something similar to in the community is – it's awesome."
Officers simulated approaching a residence, making a forced entry, confronting suspects and making arrests based off investigative work done through the week in the classroom setting.