TRI-STATE (WFIE) -
It's one of the biggest challenges for Tri-State Police Officers and this week they're getting the training they need to battle the meth epidemic.
Under the watchful eyes of the instructors, the officers identified a simulated meth lab, dismantled it, and brought it out safely.
Thursday, it's just practice. Friday, they'll work with the actual substances, and trainees say it's the experience they'll take to the streets nearly every week.
The evidence is scattered all over the kitchen floor. Drain cleaner, psuedoephedrine pills, and lithium batteries. A few feet away, a soda bottle sits bubbling with a yellowish liquid and it's these police officers' job to find it and dismantle this simulated meth lab safely, because the solution in a one pot meth lab, is incredibly unstable.
"If the water comes in contact with the lithium, burns through the side, now we have enough oxygen for it to ignite," said instructor John Porter.
It's part of a week long training put on by the Northeast Counter Drug Training center, who certifies police officers in dealing with meth labs.
"They know all the precautions and that's what our experts are here to teach these guys," said Staff Sgt. Michael Mackavage.
Among the participants is Oakland city Police Chief Alec Hensley and another officer from the force. H
Hensley says they made it a special goal this year for two of their officers to receive meth lab training. especially after an incident this past winter, where a meth lab was found at Wood Memorial High School.
"But due to the lab incident at the school, that encouraged us as send as many as we could, and that's why there's two of us here," Hensley said.
Instructors say these police officers could go from training to putting their new skills to use almost immediately.
"So when they go out of here, this may be what they're doing, you know, they go back to their agency on Friday night, they may get sent to a lab on Friday night, and they are now prepared to go do that," Porter said.
Thursday, the trainees just dealt with simulated one pot meth labs.
Friday, with their instructors and the Evansville Fire Department standing by, they will be dismantling the real thing.
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With instructors standing by, trainees also opened up the bottles to test for samples.
