Chris began his Law Enforcement career in 1991 as a Correctional Officer with the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). He was promoted to roles of increasing responsibility as a Lieutenant, Captain, Correctional Services Specialist, Emergency Management Specialist, and Assistant Correctional Services Administrator for Training and Policy. Chris is now retired from the BOP. Prior to his employment with the BOP, Chris served in the United States Navy.

Patrick Doering has been employed in law enforcement since 1996 with the Lake St. Louis (MO) Police Department. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Crisis Negotiation Course, and the London Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) National Negotiators course. Patrick is the former President and co-founder of the Missouri Association of Crisis Negotiators. He has presented case studies at several negotiation conferences across the country. He has a master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Lindenwood University.

Shawn Hancock began his law enforcement career in 1988 with the Grants, NM Police Department, where he served as a patrol officer, detective, and SWAT team member. Expanding his career opportunities, he transferred to the police department in Albuquerque, NM, in 1995. He was selected to the Metro Crime Unit and then to the SWAT team in 1998. He served on the Entry team, Sniper team, and as Assistant Team Leader.

Hancock retired from New Mexico in 2007 and moved to Arizona, joining the Chandler Police Department. He served several years as the Special Operations Section/Tactical Commander. Throughout his career, Hancock has focused on Tactical Operations and Training in Use of Force. He is a 2011 graduate of the Force Science Institute and is an instructor in many disciplines. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Career and Technical Education.

Mitch Javidi, Ph.D is chancellor of the National Command and Staff College and a retired professor at NC State University. He is an honorary member of the US Army Special Operations Command. He has more than 30 years of practical and hands-on experience in diverse industries including academia, military, law enforcement, government, and technology. As a globally recognized leader, he is the founder of the National Command & Staff College, the International Academy of Public Safety, the Institute for Credible Leadership development, the Criminal Justice Commission for Credible Leadership Development and the MAGNUS Officers Leadership. He has trained at the Joint Special Operations Command “JSOC” and the US Army Special Operations Command “USASOC.”

Javidi was awarded the honorary member of the United States Army Special Operations Command in 1999 and honorary Sheriff by the National Sheriffs’ Association in 2016. He served as a tenured Associate Professor at NC State University for 16 years before taking an early retirement but continues to serve as an Adjunct professor without pay (by choice) at both NC State and Illinois State Universities. He is a member of the “Academy of Outstanding Teachers and Scholars” at NC State University and the Distinguished 2004 Alumni of the University of Oklahoma. He is a published scholar with over 890 conference presentations worldwide. His most recent books are entitled “Deliberate Leadership: Achieving Success Through Personal Styles,” “Handbook of Research on Effective Communication, Leadership, and Conflict Resolution”, and “Moral Compass for the Law Enforcement Professionals.” His coauthored article entitled “Human Factors: Police Leaders Improving Safety While Developing Meaningful Public Trust” coauthored with Dr. Anthony Normore and Lt. Darius Bone was recently published by the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Javidi was the recipient of prestigious “Person of the Year” award by the National Society of Accountants ~ Senator William Victor “Bill” Roth, Jr. “Roth IRA” received the award in the following year.

Dan Murphy began his law enforcement career in 1984 with the Fort Collins, CO Police Services. He has been assigned to supervisory positions in patrol, the drug task force, and the Criminal Impact/Fugitive Unit. Dan has been a SWAT Team Leader since 1995 and on SWAT since 1991. His assignments have included the Professional Standards Unit, patrol watch commander, and SWAT, K-9, and CNT Commander.

Dan has been an NTOA instructor since 1999 and currently teaches Basic/Advanced SWAT, Less-Lethal Projectiles/Diversionary Device/Chemical Agents, leadership, Command/Team Leader, and Active Shooter Tactics. He is a court-certified expert in the use and deployment of diversionary devices during tactical operations. He has been recognized by his agency with three medals for valor and a distinguished service medal during hostage rescue situations and violent felony arrests. In 2011, he won the prestigious “John Kolman Award of Excellence” from the NTOA. He won the 2015 first-ever Rocky Mountain Tactical Team Association “SWAT Officer of the Year – Tactical Achievement Award.” He has a Bachelor’s degree in Administration of Justice.

Sean Stewart retired as a corrections captain from the Pima County (AZ) Sheriff’s Department, where he worked since 1992. Before joining the Sheriff’s Department, he served in the United States Navy and worked for the Arizona Department of Corrections. As a Corrections Officer, he has worked all assignments within the Corrections Bureau. Sean has commanded the Emergency Response Team, Security Services, Administrative Segregation Unit, Judicial Security, Intake and Identification Unit, Transportation Unit, and the Main Jail Tower.
Sean is a court-recognized expert in Superior and Federal courts in gang-related activities, prison politics revolving around prison gangs, inmate communications/jargon and codes, and inmate phone systems. Sean teaches for the National Institute for Jail Operations and the National Tactical Officers Association.

Travis is currently the Chief of Police for the City of Santa Paula, California. He began his law enforcement career 1997 with the San Bernardino, CA Police Department. He worked a variety of assignments in Patrol, Gangs, Narcotics, K9, Special Enforcement Bureau, and various investigative, supervisor, and management positions within the department’s crisis negotiations and tactical teams. As the department’s SWAT Commander, Travis led the unified tactical response to the terror attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on December 2nd, 2015. After leaving the San Bernardino Police Department, he served Cathedral City, CA as their Deputy Chief of Police and Chief of Police. Travis is a recognized subject matter expert in incident management, active shooter response, police tactics, and crisis response. He served as an Executive Fellow for the National Police Foundation, located in Washington D.C., and has been an instructor for the National Tactical Officers Association since 2016. Travis holds a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership, and Disaster Preparedness, and a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Grand Canyon University.

Todd Craig is the Chief of the Office of Security Technology, Federal Bureau of Prisons. He is responsible for the development and review of policy, audit guidelines, security-related equipment, facility design, security technology standards, security equipment testing and evaluation ,and a wide range of correctional security technology concerns. He serves as liaison with other federal, military, state, and local law enforcement and correctional agencies, as well as the bureau’s major coordinator for the development of new security technologies.

With 33 years of service in the Department of Justice, Mr. Craig has served as the Warden at the Federal Correctional Institution at Ray brook, N.Y., and at FCI, Beckley, W.Va. Other assignments included Associate Warden, Chief of Public Information for the Bureau, and Administrator for the Federal Prison Camp in Lompoc, Calif.

Todd holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a Master of Arts in Criminology from the University of South Florida. Todd is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) through the American Society for Industrial Security.

Robert “Bob” Farley served as a Captain in the United States Army and began his career in the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 1994. He worked as a correctional officer, lieutenant, captain, associate warden, warden, and senior executive warden (SES). He was SORT Leader and SORT Commander for various correctional facilities and regions, and also served as the agency’s senior tactical instructor. He has a masters degree in criminal justice administration from Jacksonville State University.

Phil Hansen retired as the Chief of Police of the Santa Maria, CA Police Department in 2020. Before his employment with Santa Maria PD, Phil served with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), retiring at the rank of Captain.

The great majority of Phil’s law enforcement service is in tactical operations and critical incident command. Phil was a full-time SWAT sergeant/entry team leader and the SWAT commander at LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB).

While with the LASD, Chief Hansen also served as a lieutenant at the department’s Emergency Operations Bureau. In this capacity, he was responsible for large event planning, regional law enforcement mutual aid, and department-wide response to critical incidents such as civil disturbances and wild-land fires. He also oversaw sections of the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group, now the Joint Regional Intelligence Center.

Chief Hansen has been an instructor for the National Tactical Officer’s Association (NTOA) since 1991 and served as an elected member of the Association’s Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board. In 2013, he was named Director Emeritus and continues to serve in that capacity.

Chief Hansen completed major tactical incident reviews for the LASD and has performed SWAT capability assessments and critical incident reviews for several agencies. He served on special Boards of Inquiry for the Los Angeles Police Department and the Oakland Police Department in the wake of highly publicized fatal shootings involving SWAT personnel. As a member of the California POST Executive Committee on SWAT, he was instrumental in developing the current California POST SWAT Guidelines.

Chief Hansen holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge, and a Master’s Degree in Leadership from the University of Southern California.

Don Kester served almost 24 years with the Pima County (AZ) Sheriff’s Department, retiring in 2015. His assignments included training director, patrol, special operations, tactical response, staff services section commander, and the support operations and criminal investigations division commander.

Don’s SWAT experience spans the majority of his career. He served as a trainer, SWAT team operator, team leader, team sergeant, and SWAT commander. He is certified as a chemical agent, FSDD, less-lethal instructor, and a master Taser instructor. He is also a firearms, defensive tactics, and use-of-force instructor. He teaches many other specialties such as rapid deployment, warrant service, hostage rescue, TEMS, incident command, and leadership. He has authored several articles on such topics.

Don has served as a use-of-force consultant/expert on cases in superior and federal court. He served on the Law and Legal and Defensive Tactics subject matter expert committees for the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST). He was a delegate to the International Law Enforcement Forum (ILEF) for Minimal Force Options as well as on the Advisory Council for the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLETC) and as a member of the National Institute of Justice SWAT Technical Support Working Group (TSWG).

Don was the Less-Lethal Section Chair for the NTOA from 2001 until 2008 and then served seven years as a member of the NTOA Board of Directors. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Arizona and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He currently serves as the NTOA’s Director of Training and Education.

David Pearson began his law enforcement career in 1990 with the Fort Collins, CO Police Services. As a sergeant, he supervised patrol, traffic, internal affairs, and property crimes. He served as a SWAT team leader for eight years before being promoted to Lieutenant in 2011. As a lieutenant, David has served in Criminal Investigations, Professional Standards, the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force, and Acting Assistant Chief. David has been a law enforcement instructor since 1996 and has taught defensive tactics, officer safety, building search, crowd control, incident command, active shooter, less-lethal technology, tactical decision making, SWAT tactics, and more. Since 2005, David has been an instructor for the NTOA and teaches SWAT Team Leader Development, Basic SWAT, and the Less Lethal Impact Projectiles, Chemical Agents, & Noise Flash Diversionary Device Instructor course. David has certified over 1000 instructors in the United States and Canada on less-lethal munitions. Since 2013, he has served in the role of NTOA Less Lethal Section Chair.

Bob Sorensen is a Special Agent with The Federal Bureau of Prisons, OGC/OIA – Headquarters, Washington, D.C. He has been with the Bureau since 1997 and has been in law enforcement since 1994. He served in the US Army as a Military Police Officer. Bob was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 2005. As a Lieutenant, he has held numerous collateral duty assignments to include team leader on the Bureau’s tactical teams. During his career, Bob has been an instructor in the following areas: Self Defense Instructor, Lead Disturbance Control Instructor, Lead Firearms Instructor, Lead Less Lethal Instructor, Pepper ball Instructor, and a National Incident Command Instructor. During his time with the NTOA, he has provided instruction in Less Lethal Impact Projectiles, Noise Flash Diversionary Devices, and Chemical Agents.