Mike Hillmann’s name is synonymous with leadership and tactical excellence. He has spent a lifetime in service to others, training, team-building and mentoring future generations of law enforcement leaders.

After serving in the United States Army, Mike joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1966, working patrol in the Rampart area.  He then transferred to the Metropolitan Division, where in 1970 he became one of LAPD’s first SWAT officers, as operator number 34. As a SWAT officer, Mike would meet and become lifelong friends with NTOA founder John Kolman, from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Mike served as one of the NTOA’s earliest and most profound authors, instructors and directors.

Mike excelled in SWAT, and as a sergeant in 1976 he was responsible for establishing LAPD’s Crisis Negotiations Team. He was among the earliest proponents of integrating CNT with SWAT to act in support of one another, rather than as opposing factions. He advanced these concepts nationwide through his writing and teaching with the NTOA.

A true gentleman and a master of relationship building, Mike set the standard for interagency cooperation, and served as a critical link between the law enforcement and military special operations communities. He routinely introduced applicable military practices to law enforcement, particularly in the realm of command and control.

During his career with the LAPD, Mike’s focus of effort consistently centered on special operations, beginning with his assignment to D-Platoon as a SWAT officer and then as a SWAT sergeant. When promoted to lieutenant, he served as a platoon leader in the Metropolitan Division, and then in the Anti-Terrorist Division, where he would play a major role in security planning for the 1984 Olympic Games. As a captain, he commanded the department’s Air Support Division and finally, he would serve as the deputy chief for Special Operations Bureau, commanding all department counterterrorism and emergency management resources.

As if his 42-year career with the LAPD weren’t enough, Mike went on to serve as an Assistant Sheriff for the Orange County (CA) Sheriff’s Department, and then as the Assistant Chief of the Los Angeles Port Police, compiling over 50 years of sworn law enforcement service.  Mike Hillmann is an exceptional leader, universally admired and respected by rank-and-file personnel at every agency he served.