2025 Winter Training Conference Schedule
Sunday, February 9
1:00 pm – Registration
5:00 pm – NFL Super Bowl Party
All attendees and registered vendors are invited to attend! Enjoy dinner while watching the Super Bowl.
Monday, February 10
7:00 am – Registration
8:00 am – 8:30 am – Opening Ceremony
Presentation of Colors
Announcements
8:30 am – 9:30 am – Overview of Asset Forfeiture in Criminal Cases – Tom German, Executive Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands & Valerian Powell, Dane County Assistant District Attorney
This session will provide a summary of the law of criminal forfeiture in Wisconsin, particularly in drug trafficking cases. We will also explain what happens to cash that is forfeit to the State.
9:45 am – 10:45 am – Why We Need Jail Programming: More than Just Jesus – Heather N. Pyka, Jail Program Director, Dunn County Sheriff’s Office
With treatment options closing down or having waiting lists that last for months we can do more to assist folks coming into the criminal justice system. 99% of these individuals are going to be released back into your communities, let’s give them more tools to be successful.
11:00 am – 12:00 pm – Wisconsin VINE – Victim Information and Notification Everyday – VINE County Jails (vinelink.com) and VINE Protective Order – Joyce Karrfalt, Client Relationship Manager, Government & Victim Services & Karen Adams, Manager, Marketing & Training Programs, Victim Services, Equifax Inc. (Vendor of VINE)
Crime victims have a variety of resources at their disposal. As America’s leading victim notification network, VINE relies on its connection with jail management systems nationwide to keep victims of crime informed of offender custody status and protective order information.
In partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Office of Victim Services & Programs, we invite you to join us to learn more about the Wisconsin VINE and VINE Protective Order services and features. There are various roles at each Wisconsin agency that help ensure Wisconsin VINE and VINE Protective Order run smoothly in order for victims of crime to receive real-time, life-saving notifications! Even if you don’t directly interact with victims, you still play a crucial role in Wisconsin VINE’s success. Join us to learn how!
Training Objectives:
- Provide a brief, high level overview of both WI VINE County Jails and WI VINE Protective Order and the benefits to victims/survivors and law enforcement users.
- Gain familiarity about how WI VINE County Jails interfaces with your jail management system
- Review the legal obligations of Law Enforcement to ensure timely and accurate notifications
- Understand and plan for unforeseen outages in technology, and how to manually generate notifications in the event of system outage
- Learn about how some counties customize VINE, such as notifying about GPS or Huber Privileges
- Deciding whether or not to include 17-year-old inmates in VINE
- Learn to run reports within the administrative portal for quality assurance or collecting data
- Learn how to block certain inmates from appearing in vinelink.com
- Understand where to access additional training or resources
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Lunch with Exhibitors
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Technology Show – Exhibits Open
Tuesday, February 11
7:30 am – Registration
8:00 am – 12:00 pm – Breakout Sessions
- Breakout Session 1: Human Trafficking: Identification, Investigation, and Victim Assistance – Supervisory Agent Andrew Yedinak, Montana Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, Narcotics Bureau
- This comprehensive course delves into the multifaceted issue of human trafficking, providing officers and investigators with an in-depth understanding of its indicators, investigative techniques, and victim support strategies. Students will explore the complex nature of human trafficking learning to identify its signs, and the nuanced approaches required for effective investigation. The course will cover best practices for interviewing and supporting victims, ensuring a traumainformed and empathetic approach. Through the examination of a federal case study, students will gain practical insights into real-world applications of their learning. This case study will highlight the intricacies of federal investigations and prosecutions, illustrating the collaborative efforts required between various agencies and organizations. It will also highlight the array of different crimes that pair alongside human trafficking.
- Breakout Session 2: Taking Care of our Own on the Worst Days – Michael Sasse & Sara Phelan
- Who do you turn to when the worst thing imaginable happens within your agency? The death of an employee can turn an agency completely upside down, especially if you’re not prepared. The Wisconsin Law Enforcement Death Response Team does just that, steps in and assists agencies who have experienced a death regardless of the circumstances, Line-of-Duty, suicides, off-duty, non-sworn and retirees. The team will discuss some of the ways that your agencies can prepare, things you can do if you experience a loss, and how to help your agency and communities heal. They will also discuss proactive ways they are helping to keep law enforcement’s mental health a priority from the first day in the academy all the way through retirement.
- Breakout Session 3 (Part 1): Shot in the Dark: The Lover, Stalker, Killer Homicide – Deputy Ryan Avis & Special Deputy Anthony Kava
- On a crisp winter’s night in Iowa, a woman whose world has fallen apart just wants some time to herself, a moment alone with her thoughts. But, as she strolls the boardwalk in a secluded park, she’s not alone. A killer emerges from the shadows, fires once, and leaves their victim bleeding beside a lake. It’s the culmination in a series of unsettling incidents, three years into a missing persons investigation. Where is Cari Farver? Is she hiding in plain sight? Is she even alive? This case study covers thousands of hours of investigation, as well as traditional and digital forensics, all leading to a two-week courtroom battle fought to prove a no-body homicide with hard work, luck, and an unbelievable smoking gun. The Cari Farver case has been the subject of extensive media coverage that has included episodes of ABC 20/20, Dateline NBC, True Conviction (Investigation Discovery), Snapped (Oxygen), and Deadly Women (Oxygen). It’s also been covered in Leslie Rule’s true crime novel, A Tangled Web, a Lifetime movie, The Disappearance of Cari Farver, and the Netflix documentary, Lover, Stalker, Killer.
- On a crisp winter’s night in Iowa, a woman whose world has fallen apart just wants some time to herself, a moment alone with her thoughts. But, as she strolls the boardwalk in a secluded park, she’s not alone. A killer emerges from the shadows, fires once, and leaves their victim bleeding beside a lake. It’s the culmination in a series of unsettling incidents, three years into a missing persons investigation. Where is Cari Farver? Is she hiding in plain sight? Is she even alive? This case study covers thousands of hours of investigation, as well as traditional and digital forensics, all leading to a two-week courtroom battle fought to prove a no-body homicide with hard work, luck, and an unbelievable smoking gun. The Cari Farver case has been the subject of extensive media coverage that has included episodes of ABC 20/20, Dateline NBC, True Conviction (Investigation Discovery), Snapped (Oxygen), and Deadly Women (Oxygen). It’s also been covered in Leslie Rule’s true crime novel, A Tangled Web, a Lifetime movie, The Disappearance of Cari Farver, and the Netflix documentary, Lover, Stalker, Killer.
- Breakout Session 3 (Part 2): Strategies to Improve DNA Collection Compliance After Conviction – Jon Massie, Lieutenant, Racine County Sheriff’s Office & Stephanie Hilton, Assistant Attorney General, WI DOJ
- Join AAG Stephanie Hilton and Racine County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jon Massie to discuss strategies for improving DNA collection compliance at the local level. Over 10,000 individuals owe a DNA sample to the state due to a criminal conviction, and collecting these missed samples will help solve violent crimes like sexual assault and homicide. Attendees will learn about how data management is central to reducing the number of missed collections and how gaining DNA collection compliance involves a multi-tiered, local-level approach. The presenters will provide examples from counties of varying sizes and discuss best practices for DNA collection.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Annual Business Meeting & Lunch
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Breakout Sessions
- Breakout Session 1: Human Trafficking: Identification, Investigation, and Victim Assistance – Supervisory Agent Andrew Yedinak, Montana Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, Narcotics BureauRepeat of morning session.
- Breakout Session 2: Taking Care of our Own on the Worst Days – Michael Sasse & Sara PhelanRepeat of morning session.
- Breakout Session 3 (Part 1): Shot in the Dark: The Lover, Stalker, Killer Homicide – Deputy Ryan Avis & Special Deputy Anthony KavaRepeat of morning session.
- Breakout Session 3 (Part 2): Strategies to Improve DNA Collection Compliance After Conviction – Jon Massie, Lieutenant, Racine County Sheriff’s Office & Stephanie Hilton, Assistant Attorney General, WI DOJ
6:00 pm – WS&DSA Reception
All attendees are invited to attend! Tickets for guests must be purchased.
Wednesday, February 12
8:00 am – 12:00pm – Police Resiliency and Critical Incident Mindset –Joshua Bitsko
As one of three officers to breach the door and make entry into the suspect’s room during the 1-October Massacre in 2017 in Las Vegas (the largest mass shooting incident in US history to date), Josh knows the feelings police officers are taught to feel, and the feelings he actually felt during that incident. Fear, anxiety, and uncertainty are REAL, yet seldom talked about in the law enforcement and first responder community. If we are not honest with our first responders about the reality of what their emotions will be IN the moment, they will struggle to manage those emotions not only in the moment, but the years after. Josh is passionate about his goal of “Preparing your workforce FOR the moment, IN the moment!”
Because of this experience, as well as many others over the course of his career, Josh provides training for law enforcement and first responders that addresses:
- The intense emotions you’ll experience before, during, and after responding to a critical incident.
- Coping strategies (backed by data science) first responders can employ in the moment of a critical incident.
- Coping strategies post-incident.
- Ways law enforcement and first responder agencies can improve the wellness of their workforce post incident, and how agencies can minimize the impact of internal stressors on the workforce.