Exhibitor
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2010 Instructor List
Special Guests
Sandy Jo MacArthur
Assistant Chief of Police
Los Angeles Police Department
Sandy Jo joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1980 after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Arizona State University, graduating Cum Laude. In 1997, she obtained a Master Degree in Behavioral Science, graduating with honors and specializing in Negotiations and Conflict Management, from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Assistant Chief Sandy Jo MacArthur has had an inspiring career spanning over 29 years of dedicated service with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Her extensive history is founded in police operational, administrative and command experience. The complexity and sensitivity of her professional assignments demonstrate her understanding and recognition of the importance of leadership in the areas of human relations, discrimination, conflict resolution, tactics, training delivery and use of force.
Sandy Jo’s journey through the ranks at LAPD began in Operations, which included Patrol, Vice, and Special Problems Unit assignments. Administrative assignments in Training, Ombuds, Press Relations, and Adjutant to Chief William J. Bratton advanced her professional and leadership experiences. Her work in these areas yielded important organizational changes for the Department. After being promoted to Captain and assigned to the Civil Rights Integrity Division, Sandy Jo was responsible for overseeing implementation of all federal Consent Decree requirements. In this position, she played a significant role in achieving substantial compliance with the federal Consent Decree entered into between the City of Los Angeles and the United States Department of Justice. As a result of collaboration with key internal and external partners, the Consent Decree was lifted in July 2009.
Recognized for her leadership skills and management abilities Sandy Jo has repeatedly been selected to implement and oversee significant operational programs. In 2008, Sandy Jo promoted to her current rank and assignment; Assistant Chief, Commanding Officer of Incident Management and Training Bureau. As a result of the attacks on September 11th 2001 and the recent Mumbai India tragedy, she developed a comprehensive tactical strategy that integrates and aligns both strategic and tactical responses by local, state and federal agencies. Sandy Jo continues to foster efforts to engage local communities by building collaborative partnerships and educating Department personnel. Most noteworthy, over the past five years, she has skillfully led challenging LAPD initiatives including federal Consent Decree implementation, the MacArthur Park investigation, 21st Century Mobile Field Force Training, the Multi-Assault Counter Terrorism Action Capabilities (MACTAC) regional training, and the redesign of the recruit training program.
To meet the training needs and continue the development of executive level staff and command officers within the department, Sandy Jo established the Leadership Enhancement And Development (LEAD) training program conducted on a quarterly basis. Recognizing the need to bring training beyond the walls of LAPD and to establish an ongoing pipeline for new recruits, Sandy Jo created a program in which thirty high school seniors from LAUSD will spend a semester at the LAPD Academy, learning about law enforcement careers and earning high school and college credits. This Police Orientation and Preparation Program (POPP) was launched in September 2009. Sandy Jo is viewed by many as an important driving force behind the Department’s commitment to embrace a style of policing that draws from the community, develops public trust, improves race relations and solves problems in a collaborative manner. Sandy Jo is committed to reducing crime, while maximizing training resources, even during difficult budgetary conditions.
Sandy Jo and her husband Nick have been married for 24 years and have two grown children, Cody and Hayley Jo, both currently pursuing advanced degrees. She is also an active member of several community and police organizations.
Keynote Speakers
 Bill Lewinkski
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Force Science Institute
Dr. Bill Lewinski is the co-founder and executive director of the Force Science Institute, which was launched in June 2004 and is headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota. He also runs the Force Science Research Center, based at the University of Minnesota, Mankato and directed by the Institute. The mission of the Institute and the Research Center is to scientifically determine and fully understand the true dynamics of force encounters – what actually happens between officers and offenders in fluid, rapidly unfolding, life-or-death confrontations.
Dr. Lewinski has a Ph.D. in police psychology, a subject he has studied for more than three decades. He is a full professor in the Law Enforcement Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato where until recently he taught full-time for more than two decades.
He has interviewed more than 1,000 officers who have been involved in deadly force incidents and he has conducted groundbreaking research that sheds light on the little understood and often ignored realities of deadly force encounters. This information has saved officers’ lives on the street and has prevented some from going to prison when they were wrongly accused of criminally using deadly force.
Force Science Institute findings combined with Dr. Lewinski’s expert courtroom testimony have made a dramatic impact on some of the highest profile use-of-force cases in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. His research has been published in numerous national law enforcement publications, Web sites and e-newsletters. Additionally, the work for The Force Science Institute is frequently cited in law enforcement training articles and classes worldwide.
Don Alwes
Lead Instructor
National Tactical Officers Association
Don Alwes is a trainer and consultant with 24 years of law enforcement experience. He is a lead instructor for the National Tactical Officers Association in the areas of school and workplace violence and active shooter response. For 15 years, Don has served as an adjunct instructor for Kentucky's Department of Criminal Justice Training. He has instructed law enforcement personnel in active shooter response/rapid deployment, terrorism, homeland security, school and workplace violence, firearms, tactics, vulnerability assessment, and executive development. As a team leader, Don supervised and performed anti-terrorism assessments. He has served as a subject matter expert for projects sponsored by the National Institute of Justice and other agencies.
Ebrahim Ashabi
Detective
Office of Counter Terrorism, Long Beach Police Department
Detective Ebrahim Ashabi is a 11-year veteran of the Long Beach, California, Police Department where he is presently working in the Office of Counter Terrorism.
Detective Ebrahim was born in Iran as a Shiite Muslim. He lived through the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1978-79 and the Iran – Iraq war. Detective Ebrahim fled from Iran in 1982 across the Iranian border into the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq and then into Turkey. After a few months in Europe, he immigrated to the US, where he lived in New York and Washington D.C. Detective Ashabi moved to Los Angeles in 1990. Ashabi joined the Long Beach Police Department in 1997 after becoming a naturalized American citizen.
Detective Ashabi is assigned to the Office of Counter Terrorism and is responsible for collecting, analyzing and investigating criminal intelligence related to international and domestic terrorism, organized crime, and extremist activities. Detective Ebrahim also assists in investigations with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne and is currently working on his Masters degree at California State University, Long Beach.
Detective Ebrahim has been involved in training law enforcement officers for the past five years.
Dave Bahde
Lieutenant (Ret.)
South Salt Lake Police Department
Lieutenant Dave Bahde recently retired after 20 years with the South Salt Lake Police Department. As a Lieutenant Dave was in command of the SWAT team, Investigations, Crime Scene, Evidence, and Victim Services. He organized and commanded the first stand alone SWAT team in the departments history remaining on the team for over ten years. Running the firearms training unit for 10 years he brought the latest and most innovative training to the department. As a reserve he continues to run SWAT firearms training, firearms unit training, and operates on the Joint Criminal Apprehension Team.
Ed Deuel
Lieutenant (Ret.)
Huntington Beach Police Department
Ed Deuel retired from the Huntington Beach Police Department as a police lieutenant. Ed’s 33 years of law enforcement experience included 14 years with the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) and over eight years as a supervisor of the Crimes Against Persons Unit. Since 1980, Ed has provided basic and advanced training in Patrol Procedures and Tactics, Officer-Involved-Shooting Investigations, SWAT Operations, Use of Force and Post Traumatic Stress.
The Commission on California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) has utilized Ed as a subject matter expert in various televised training productions. Additionally, the Los Angeles Police Department asked Ed to re-enact his officer-involved-shooting incident where he was wounded and received the Medal of Valor. This training tape has received nationwide recognition, helping peace officers survive critical incidents.
Ed also created a law enforcement training tape that addressed officer safety and post traumatic stress. This tape has been used throughout the country by other law enforcement instructors, receiving numerous acknowledgements. Furthermore, Ed has authored various training articles that were published in law enforcement magazines.
Over the years, Ed has personally debriefed hundreds of peace officers who have survived officer-involved shootings. Consequently, in 1988, Ed worked with others to develop a Trauma Support Team at the Huntington Beach Police Department. Also, he helped law enforcement agencies in California and New York create trauma support teams. Ed’s efforts have been commended for saving law enforcement careers.
As the Huntington Beach Police Department’s training manager, Ed implemented advanced and contemporary training programs. This included crisis decision making and use of force scenario training, emergency vehicle operations and vehicle pursuit intervention courses. The scenario training has been recognized as state of the art innovation that reduced sensory changes and significantly improved tactical responses to unexpected life threatening incidents.
Ed serves on the California POST Committee that studies the attacks and deaths of California Peace Officers. As a senior member of POST’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Committee (LEOKA), Ed has studied the assaults and deaths of hundreds of peace officers and participated in the publication of POST LEOKA and Critical Incident Reports.
Ed has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management from the University of Redlands and a California teaching credential. Since 1980, Ed has served as a law enforcement instructor to thousands of peace officers, receiving commendation for his contributions to the law enforcement profession.
Michael Eby, M.D.
Medical Director and Physician
Dr. Michael Eby is a residency trained board certified Ob/Gyn physician with fellowship training in surgical critical care. Dr. Eby currently is medical director of an academic critical care unit in southern California and is also a staff intensivist for a Level 1 Trauma Center. His duties include the education of physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and pre-hospital providers. He has lectured to EMS agencies and for paramedic CE courses and protocol updates in pre-hospital obstetrics and critical care. Dr. Eby is a sworn reserve peace officer for the City of San Bernardino and serves in a variety of roles from patrol officer, to medical liaison for the administration, to SWAT team physician. He is currently serving on a multi-jurisdictional tactical medical task force for southern California.
Lawrence E. Heiskell, M.D., FACEP, FAAFP
Founder and Medical Director
International School of Tactical Medicine
Dr. Lawrence Heiskill is the founder and medical director of the International School of Tactical Medicine. Dr. Heiskell is residency trained and board certified in emergency medicine and family practice and is a full time practicing emergency physician in California. Prior to attending medical school Dr. Heiskell, worked as a biologist and conducted scientific research for the United States Antarctic Research Program and served on 3 expeditions to Antarctica and the South Pole. He was awarded the Congressional Antarctic Service Medal in 1979. He has 19 years experience in law enforcement and began his career as a reserve deputy sheriff and SWAT team physician with the Kern County Sheriffs Department in Bakersfield, California. Dr. Heiskell now serves as a reserve police officer and a tactical physician with the Palm Springs Police Department in Palm Springs, California. He is a graduate of P.O.S.T, NTOA, Heckler and Koch, and FBI SWAT schools.
Dr. Heiskell has lectured nationally on tactical medicine and has written over 50 articles, publications, and book chapters on tactical medicine. Dr. Heiskell served as an adjunct instructor for the Heckler & Koch International Training Division for 10 years. He is a Heckler & Koch certified MP5 Master Instructor and a four-time GUNSITE graduate. Dr. Heiskell has provided special operations emergency medical support for the FBI, DEA and BATF. He is also a graduate of the DEA Clandestine Drug Laboratory Investigation School and the California P.O.S.T. Academy Instructor Certification Program.
Tim Hunter
Sergeant (Ret.)
Sacramento Police Department
Sgt. Tim Hunter retired from the Sacramento Police Department after a 28 year career. He was a Crisis Negotiator for 15 years, serving in all roles on the HNT team. Tim served on the POST Committee for the Negotiations component of AB991, and has worked on several other POST SWAT training projects.
Sgt. Hunter is currently serving as the State Conference Chair for the California Association of Hostage Negotiators. He is a Senior Instructor in Crisis Negotiations and OIS for the Field Supervisor for D-Prep, LLC. , and assists with their Critical Incident Response for Supervisors and Managers course.
In addition to several years of providing in-house training for the Sacramento PD, Tim has also presented classes at the CA Hostage Negotiators events statewide, at the California Tactical Dispatcher Association’s annual conference and has presented Crisis Negotiations curriculum at the first annual Negotiator’s Conference at the Beijing People’s Police College in 2004.
Michael Janich
Special Projects Coordinator
Spyderco
Michael Janich has been studying and teaching self-defense and the martial arts for more than 30 years. He has earned instructor’s credentials in American Self-Protection (ASP – an eclectic art that includes elements of judo, aikido, boxing, fencing and French Savate), the Filipino art of Serrada Eskrima, and Joseph Simonet's Silat Concepts and is a member of the elite International Close-Combat Instructors’ Association. He has also trained extensively in wing chun gung fu, tae kwon do, wu ying tao, Thai boxing, arnis de mano and military combatives. Janich is also one of the foremost modern authorities on handgun point shooting and is one of the few contemporary instructors to have been personally trained by the late close-combat legend Colonel Rex Applegate.
Janich served nine years in the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, including a three-year tour at the National Security Agency. He is a two-time graduate with honors of the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California (Vietnamese and Chinese-Mandarin) and a recipient of the Commandant’s Award for outstanding linguistic achievement. After completing his military service, Janich was recruited by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and served as an Intelligence Officer for that agency’s Stony Beach Program in Hong Kong and the Philippines. He also served as an Investigation Team Leader for the Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC) and Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA) and has led numerous investigations into remote areas of Vietnam and Laos in search of information regarding American prisoners of war and missing in action (POW/MIA).
Janich is the sole author of six books and co-author of seven, including Bullseyes Don’t Shoot Back: The Complete Textbook of Point Shooting for Close Quarters Combat, which he wrote with the late close-combat legend Col. Rex Applegate. He has also been featured in 15 instructional videotapes on defensive edged-weapon use, use of the Filipino balisong knife, the use of throwing weapons and exotic weapons, and combat shooting. In addition to books and videos, Janich has been published in more than a dozen magazines and newsletters and is a contributing editor to Tactical Knives magazine.
Janich is the founder and lead instructor of Martial Blade Concepts (MBC—a practical system of personal defense with edged weapons) and Counter-Blade Concepts (CBC—a highly effective system of defending against edged-weapon attacks). He also teaches focused programs that address empty-hand, improvised-weapon, impact-weapon, cane, and restraint-and-control tactics. A former subject-matter expert for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) self-defense program, Janich has developed and taught specialized tactical programs for a number of law enforcement and security agencies.
Janich personally established Paladin Press’ Video Production Department in 1994 and ran all aspects of Paladin’s video production for 10 years. An accomplished videographer and editor, he produced more than 100 instructional videos during his tenure with Paladin and personally recruited some of Paladin’s most popular authors, including Kelly McCann, the late Jim Cirillo, Louis Awerbuck, James Keating, Joseph Simonet, Mark Hatmaker, and Bill Kipp. Janich was also personally selected to work with the late Col. Rex Applegate as the producer of his landmark instructional videos on handgun point shooting.
Janich is widely recognized as an authority on edged-weapon design and has designed knives for Spyderco, Masters of Defense, BLACKHAWK!, Combat Elite, and noted custom knifemakers including Mike Snody, Wally Hayes, and Brent Beshara. Currently Janich serves as the Special Projects Coordinator for the Spyderco knife company of Golden, Colorado. With Spyderco's support, he continues to offer state-of-the-art tactical training on a part-time basis and to co-host The Best Defense and The Best Defense: Survival! shows on the Outdoor Channel.
Ron McCarthy
Senior Supervisor and Assistant Commander, Special Weapons and Tactics (Ret.) and Owner/Partner
Los Angeles Police Department and R.M. McCarthy & Associates, Inc.
Ron served as a Los Angeles Police Officer for twenty-four years. He was assigned to the department’s Tactical Unit, Metro Division, for 20 years and retired from Special Weapons and Tactics as the senior supervisor and assistant commander in 1984. Ron served as the Chief of Tactical Operations for the U.S. Department of Energy from 1984 through 1986. Ron was the Director of the Deadly Force Training Grants for the U.S. Department of Justice and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) from 1986 through 1988, and served as Manager of IACP’s Center for Advanced Police Studies from 1987 through 1992.
Since 1993, Ron McCarthy has been an owner and partner of R.M. McCarthy & Associates, Inc, a Training, Consulting and Logistics Resource for Law Enforcement.
Ron was awarded the Los Angeles Police Department Medal of Valor for action against the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1975, and the Police star for the rescue of hostages in 1983. He was presented with the National Tactical Officers Association Award for Excellence in 1990. In 1995 the City of Erie, PA presented Ron with the All American Hero Award for his service to law enforcement throughout the United States. In October of 1996, Ron was awarded the National Tactical Officers Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded the California Tactical Officers Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
R.K. Miller
Lieutenant (Ret.)
Huntington Beach Police Department
R. K. Miller retired from the Huntington Beach (Calif.) Police Department as a lieutenant after 30 years of service in a variety of assignments, including FTO, trauma support, beach detail, detectives, special enforcement unit, SWAT and field supervisor. He has been on staff for over 20 years at the Golden West College (Huntington Beach, CA) Criminal Justice Training Center as an instructor and officer in charge of that institution’s SWAT Academy. He is an adjunct instructor with the NRA’s Law Enforcement Activities Division and Combined Tactical Systems (CTS) as well as president of his own training company, National Training Concepts, Inc. (www.ntc-swat.org). R K serves on the Board of Directors for the California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO). He holds a bachelor’s degree from Long Beach State University and is a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran. His law enforcement career has continued with him working as a reserve with the Orange Police Department, primarily with that agency’s SWAT team and Training Unit.
David "Nark" Narkevicius
Instructor
IACSP, PSI and Centermass
David "Nark" Narkevicius is a founding member and a Senior Instructor with the Personal Security Institute (PSI), which is dedicated to the research and training of self defense skills and tactics. He has trained with numerous schools/institutes in pistol, shotgun, carbine, knife, self defense law, self defense mindset, and other personal defensive skill sets and tools. He's certified as a Concealed Carry Pistol Instructor by SigArms Academy and a founding member of the Counter Carjacking Working Group. He's also served as adjunct instructor for Pistol and Counter Carjacking courses with SigArms Academy and is Senior Instructor and a Chief Range Safety Officer for Firearms and Hunter Safety for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police. Has taught classes at TREXPO East and West conferences since 2001. He was elected to the TREXPO Advisory Board in 2006.
Mr. Narkevicius currently is serving as a Senior Staff Advisor in the Office Secretary of Defense, his previous assignments include Deputy for the Naval Aviation Interoperability in Naval Air Systems Command Headquarters, and Flight Test Engineer in Naval Air Test Center. He has been as a guest lecturer to the US Navy Fighter Weapons School, US Air Force Fighter Weapon School, Royal Air Force School of Fighter Control, US Air Force Test Pilot School, and US Navy Test Pilot School. He trained as an F/A-18 Hornet Weapons and Tactics Instructor with Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One and is a graduate of the National Security Studies program and the Federal Executive Institute.
Larry Nichols
Senior Rangemaster and Armorer
Burbank Police Department
Larry J. Nichols is the Senior Rangemaster/Armorer for the Burbank Police Department. With over 25 years of experience as a professional Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, Larry is internationally noted for his innovative and pioneering work in the planning, development and implementation of realistic law enforcement firearms training programs. In addition to being a published author, he is President of the California Rangemasters Association and past Regional Training Director (Region 7) of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. Certified as a Use of Force, Less-Lethal and Lethal Force Instructor, Larry has provided specialized firearms training for federal, state, county and municipal law enforcement officers. He began his firearms training in 1963 with the United States Marine Corps and is a Vietnam combat veteran with 24 months of combat experience.
Robert J. O'Brien
Sergeant (Ret.), Cleveland Police SWAT Unit
Founder, R.J. O'Brien Group, Ltd.
Robert O'Brien is the founder of the R.J. O'Brien Group, Ltd., a law enforcement training and consulting service, and currently advises, forms and trains a number of SWAT and tactical teams on the local, state and federal levels. He was a co-founder of the full-time Cleveland Police SWAT Unit where he was assigned for 25 years; served three years in the U.S. Army, with an Honorable Discharge; and served a one-year tour of duty in Vietnam, where he was assigned to a combat aviation battalion. Mr. O'Brien is a former consultant to the National Tactical Officers Association, and a former vice president of the Ohio Tactical Officers Association. He holds a permanent instructor certification with the Ohio Peace Officer Training Council, and he has been an Ohio certified instructor for 24 years.
Dan Olesnicky, M.D., FACEP
Physician
Clifton New Jersey Police Department
Dr. Dan Olesnicky is a SWAT team physician for the Clifton New Jersey Police Department. Dr. Olesnicky is a practicing full time emergency physician and is residency trained and board certified in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine. Dr. Olesnicky served for 3 years as an adjunct instructor for the Heckler & Koch International Training Division. Dr. Olesnicky is active in both Disaster Medicine and the Mobile Medical Response System. He is a specialist in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical threats and is an expert in wellness medicine for law enforcement. Dr Olesnicky is a frequent tactical medicine speaker at TREXPO conferences and an expert on advanced airway management.
Jon Pascal
Director
Krav Maga Worldwide Force Training Division
Jon Pascal is the director of the Krav Maga Worldwide Force Training Division. He has over 10 years of law enforcement experience with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and over 20 years of experience training in Krav Maga. He is currently a reserve deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Force Training Bureau.
Daniel Smiley
Chief Deputy Director
State of California, Emergency Medical Services Authority
Dan Smiley is the Chief Deputy Director for the California EMS Authority and has been in that position since 1989. He also served as the Interim Director of the California EMS Authority from 1989-1993. Prior to coming to the EMS Authority, he served as Chief of Emergency Medical Services for the County of Fresno Health Department.
He has provided leadership to California’s EMS system through the improvement of EMT and Paramedic certification and licensure programs, EMS and trauma system planning, and disaster medical response enhancements. He was one of the primary authors of the California POST and EMSA Tactical Medicine Guidelines that were approved in 2009.
He has been involved in emergency medical services since 1974 and has worked as an EMT and paramedic. He has also served as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff with Merced County Sheriff’s Department.
David H. Tang, M.D., FACEP
Physician
Dr. David H. Tang is residency trained and board certified in emergency medicine. Dr Tang has published on TEMS related topics and has lectured nationally on Tactical Emergency Medicine. He has served as a reserve police officer for 16 years, beginning with the Riverside County Sheriffs Department, Indio, California, Coos County Sheriffs Department, Coos Bay, Oregon. And is currently a reserve police officer and a tactical physician for the Palm Springs Police Department, Palm Springs, California. Dr. Tang is a graduate of P.O.S.T and FBI SWAT schools and is certified by the DEA as a clandestine drug lab safety officer. He has also served as the medical officer for BATF special operations and is a certified MP5 Master Instructor.
Richard Valdemar
Sergeant (Ret.)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Richard Valdemar retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in 2004. For most of his 33 years with the LASD he was involved in combating L.A. Gangs. For the last 20 years he was assigned to the Detective Division, Major Crimes Bureau. In 1977-78 he was assigned to the DEA and later to the U.S. Marshals, in the "Doc Holiday - Ray Ray Browning" federal drug conspiracy case. For more than 10 years he was part of the Federal Metropolitan Gang Task Force, cross designated as an FBI agent. Since 1985 he was a member of the California (Prison) Gang Task Force. He was the "gang expert" in the RICO prosecution of the Mexican Mafia in 1995 and the RICO of 1999 as well.
Before joining the LASD in 1970, he served three years as a Military Policeman with tours in Vietnam and Fort Huachuca Arizona. Prior to completing the LASD Academy, he was assigned to Intelligence and worked undercover infiltrating the Brown Berets and the Revolutionary Communist Party. After completing the Academy, he served four years in Custody Division where he first was exposed to working prison gangs. His past experience also includes patrol and gang suppression assignments in East Los Angeles, and his home town, Compton, California. Richard Valdemar's prior experience includes being selected in 1978 as one of the original twelve founding Deputies to form the Sheriff's Department's "Operation Safe Streets" anti-gang unit. He received anti-terrorist training in 1984 for the Olympics from the U. S. Secret Service and Department of Transportation and was the Detective Division's Terrorist Liaison Officer when he retired.
Rich Wemmer
Captain (Ret.)
Los Angeles Police Department
After starting his law enforcement career at the Pasadena Police Department as a Police Cadet followed by the Monterey Park Police Department as a Reserve Police Officer in the late 1960’s, Rich Wemmer then joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1970. Rich worked various operational, specialized and training assignments, promoting to sergeant, lieutenant and captain. As a lieutenant, he supervised a variety of specialized units within the LAPD, including duties as the Officer-in-Charge of the Anti-Terrorist Division's Investigative Unit during the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, the Hollywood Vice Unit, the Los Angeles International Airport Detail and the Asian Crime Investigation Unit. As a police captain, Rich has been the commanding officer of the Rampart and Northeast Patrol Divisions, the Central Traffic Division, Training Division, Wilshire Detective Division and the Van Nuys, West Los Angeles and the Wilshire Community Police Stations. In 2008, he retired after 40 years of dedicated service.
Rich is recognized as a pioneer in law enforcement officer safety and tactics training. In 1974, he started to review critical incidents, especially officer-involved shootings where officers were wounded and killed. As a trainer, he created the “Officer-Involved-Shooting” series at LAPD. Rich was responsible for over 20 officer-involved shooting incidents being re-enacted where he interviewed the surviving peace officers. These training tapes have received countless acknowledgements from peace officers nationwide for preventing deaths and making the critical difference during a violent encounter. Also, Rich developed the “Officer-Down” course for first responders, supervisors and command officers. Furthermore, he has authored numerous articles on the murders of peace officers and received awards, commendations and letters acknowledging his training contributions from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Rich serves on the California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Committee (LEOKA) that studies the attacks and deaths of California Peace Officers. As a senior LEOKA Committee member, Rich has examined the assaults and deaths of hundreds of peace officers and participated as a subject matter expert in the publication of LEOKA Reports and POST telecourses. Furthermore, he created the POST Critical Incident Review Report so that law enforcement personnel can benefit from the lessons learned. These reports contain tactical and training strategies to effectively prepare, respond, manage, and survive similar critical incidents.
Captain Wemmer received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Police Science and Administration from California State University at Los Angeles, a Master of Science Degree from Pepperdine University in Public Administration and a California Teaching Credential. He is a recognized expert in police tactics, officer safety, peace officer training, use-of-force issues and the assaults and murders of peace officers.
Nationwide and internationally, thousands of local, state and federal peace officers have benefited from listening to Rich Wemmer lecture and viewing his training tapes. His comments and officer safety tactics have enabled fellow law enforcement officers to be effective and safer. His officer safety theme of “A Moment in Time” and his training contributions have significantly made a difference, saved lives and prevented injuries and deaths to peace officers.
Kenneth Whitman
Special Consultant
Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training
Ken Whitman retired from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) as a Bureau Chief. Ken’s 45 years of law enforcement experience included 25 years in local law enforcement and 20 years at POST. He also served as an adjunct instructor at two Criminal Justice Training Centers for 15 years.
During his tenure at POST, Ken developed numerous telecourse and interactive videodisc training courses, worked with Atari to design and build the first state-of-the-art Driver Training Simulator (AMOS), developed use of force and driving simulation scenarios, developed manuals and courses for Driver Awareness and Emergency Vehicle Operations, the Basic Course Workbook series, the mandated Field Training Officer program, and managed the Supervisory, Management, and Executive level training courses at POST including the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute and the Command College.
Ken also authored numerous articles and two comprehensive reports for the California Legislature on the use of computer-based technology and regional skill facilities for law enforcement training. He also managed the design and distribution of over 1,000 interactive computer-based training systems and satellite distance learning systems distributed to every POST-participating agency in the 1990s.
Since 2002, Ken has managed the POST Homeland Security Training Program (HSTP) and in that capacity is responsible for the development and presentation of a wide variety of terrorism-related training, including the Terrorism Liaison Officer (TLO) course, overseeing the management and administration of statewide terrorism related training programs, and acting as a liaison between POST and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security (now Cal EMA), the California Emergency Services Authority (EMSA), the State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFM), and other state agencies dealing with statewide anti-terrorism training. Ken has also served as a volunteer firefighter for the past 20 years and has been a first responder and EMT since 1965.
Ken is the program manager and author of the recently completed Tactical Medicine Operational Guidelines and Standardized Training Recommendations (2010) that was developed in cooperation with the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) and a dedicated group of stakeholders and subject matter experts. He is also responsible for the oversight of the Tactical Medicine Course presented by the Palm Springs Police Department and the International School of Tactical Medicine (ISTM).
Ken holds a Master of Science in Administration degree from the California State University-Dominguez Hills, a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and a California Lifetime Teaching credential.
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