2023 Winter Training Conference Schedule

Sunday, February 12

1:00 pm – Registration Opens

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 13

7:00 am – Registration Opens

8:00 am-8:30 am – Opening Ceremony

Presentation of Colors
Announcements

8:30 am – 10:30 am – Financial Concepts for Public Safety Employees Jason Ganiere, CFP, IAG Wealth Partners
Sworn and non-sworn public safety employees have both unique financial planning opportunities and challenges. While a pension allows for an earlier than average retirement it also means planning for more years in retirement. This session will touch on fundamental financial concepts applicable to all employees and transition to financial concepts which most often affect mid-career employees. The session will conclude with a presentation on how your decisions related to WRS may impact your financial plan. The accelerated and regular options, as well as the core and variable investment choices, will be discussed.

10:30 am – 12:30 pm – Social Media Case Resolution Case Study Sheriff Brent Waak, Polk County, Investigator Andrew Vitalis, Polk County, and Kirk Anderson, Kirk Anderson Marketing
Polk County Sheriff Brent Waak is a 28 year veteran of Law Enforcement. He was elected Sheriff of Polk County in 2018. Sheriff Waak initially responded to the scene of a double fatal hit and run crash in 2016 in the Round Lake Tribal lands of Northern Polk County, while he was a Sergeant for the Office. After the case went cold for many years, he was later elected Sheriff and solving the cold case was immediately a priority. He assisted in utilizing social media in bringing the cold case back into main stream by not only approving funding, but, he also cameoed in the video.Polk County Investigator Andrew Vitalis is a 18+ year veteran of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and had previous experience in Broadcast Journalism before entering Law Enforcement. Investigator Vitalis was the push behind combining his Journalism experience with his investigative talent. He, together with Kirk Anderson created a video that pulled on the heartstrings of everyone who watched it. This included the suspect, who’s emotional reaction to the video led to solving of the 6 year old cold case that had no other viable option of being solved.Kirk Anderson is the owner of Kirk Anderson Marketing. He has provided marketing and technology consulting services to businesses and organizations for over 20 years. Specializing in traditional and digital marketing, integrated technology solutions, and creative storytelling through the use of video and audio. Together, with the assistance of Investigator Vitalis, he produced the remarkable video. He was also able to utilize his marketing savvy to push the video through mainstream media and it was able to reach more people than ever before thought possible.The training brings forth the evolution of how an idea was transformed into a working product that concluded in a successful prosecution of a 6 year old cold case.

12:00 pm-1:00 pm – Lunch with Exhibitors

1:00 pm-4:00 pm – Technology Show – Exhibits Open


Tuesday, February 14

7:30 am – Registration Opens

8:00 am-12:00 pm – Breakout Sessions

  • Real World De-Escalation Blue to Gold, LLC
    Decades of police training have made officers experts at using force to overcome resistance. But less attention has been paid to training officers in mastering de-escalation. It’s clear that overcoming resistance is not enough. This training will give you practical and workable tactics to help diffuse escalated encounters. Upon completion, officers will have core skills to not only not needlessly escalate tense situations but de-escalate them too.

  • Social Media & Open Source Investigations Detective Michael Sewall & Detective Lieutenant Chris Braman, Covert Media Consulting
    Source and Social Media intelligence in their respective roles. Students will be shown relevant and current case studies and case law to reinforce some of the unconventional investigative techniques taught in the course. Students will learn how to protect their investigations by using anonymization techniques, conduct advanced open-source searches and utilize the latest investigative techniques on all of the major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Tiktok). Most importantly students will be shown how to properly document and save what they find to win the case in court.

12:00 pm-1:00 pm – Annual Business Meeting & Lunch

1:00 pm-5:00 pm – Breakout Sessions

  • Duty to Intercede Blue to Gold, LLC
    If we are to police others, we must also police ourselves. The law requires real-time intervention when a fellow officer, from any agency, goes down the wrong path and violates the law. Failing to intervene may result in termination, criminal charges, and civil rights lawsuits. Every law enforcement professional must attend this course – their jobs and freedom depend on it.

  • Covert Online Investigations Detective Michael Sewall & Detective Lieutenant Chris Braman, Covert Media Consulting
    This course is designed to teach law enforcement personnel how to start from the ground up in conducting covert online investigations. We provide the students iPhones to begin building their covert online identify. Students will then be shown the case law that allows them to begin building a covert identity online using numerous online resources such as fake phone numbers, fake email addresses, fake identities and computer altered images. Once the covert accounts are created the student will be taught how to engage with individuals on numerous different online platforms.

6:00 pm  – WS&DSA Banquet
All attendees  are invited to attend! Tickets for guests must be purchased.


Wednesday, February 15

8:00 am-12:00pm – POST/Peer Support/Employee Wellness – Kristen Herreid & Felicia Labatore