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Let’s be real folks, When looking for an expert witness, be warned of C.V. embellishers, the resume ‘padders’ and the ridiculous certification claims. You need to verify them! Your expert witness should have courses that can be proven with more than just a generic certificate. They should have courses that are of a national and federal standard. Not a course given by an unknown (insert “tacticool” name) on a topic that merely sounds exciting but really is just kind of a joke

Law Enforcement agencies are stubborn when it comes to their chosen arrest control programs they use.  The question is why?  Most of these ‘one stop shop’ type programs incorporate made up concepts.  Here is an example.  A ‘Use of Force Continuum’.  This is a concept that teaches recruits and sworn officers that, if a subject does this (level of resistance) then you the officer can do this (use of force).    With these programs, you get a few posters with a flow chart of use

Have you ever tried to teach someone else’s lesson plan and power point, on short notice?  Even if you know the material, in general, you will be ‘off your game’!  Your timing will be way off.  You might find that you’re just reading off the slides and even your stories that you use to give real world examples will be off cadence and sound almost hollow and uninteresting. This is what you get if you choose poorly and hire an expert witness that chooses to use A.I. to write th

I have watched countless videos of officers ‘Tasing’ a subject.  Some good and some bad in reference to the objectively reasonableness standard set forth by our U.S. Supreme Court in Graham v. Connor {1989}.  But I have some thoughts, so bear with me for a minute.     Using a Taser is a high-level use of force.  An officer is injecting a piece of metal into a human body, (without their consent). And it just so happens that this piece of metal is now  considered ‘police equipm

I started my expert witness/ consultation business 7 months ago with what I thought were reasonable goals to call the first year a success. Well, I'm proud to say that I have surpassed (almost doubled) my business goals! My cases have now expanded from Colorado to Wyoming and Vermont! I certainly didn't see cases coming my way from out of my home state (Colorado) in the first year! All of the Law Firms that I have worked with have been wonderful and the people that I have met

Officers are taking a person into custody. The subject is clearly intoxicated. It is not a ‘Kings leap’ to know that a person that is inebriated is going to move slower, not fully understand directions (orders) and lose focus to any task at hand no matter how simple it may be. Officers interpret this as resisting and force is now applied to place the subject into custody. This force would be excessive. If you are working a case where force was used, check to see if the force

A subject has been taken down by officers. Again, for argument’s sake, let’s say it’s a righteous arrest and the force has been reasonable. The officers on the subject are yelling at the subject to place his/ her hands behind their back and to stop resisting. The subject’s hands/ arms are pinned (by the weight of the officers) under their own body.  The officers will now start using additional force. Knee strikes, punches maybe even a Taser probe deployment or a Taser Drive-s

An officer uses the Taser while making an arrest of a subject. For argument’s sake the arrest is righteous and the choice of force (Taser) is reasonable. The subject is under full Neuro Muscular Incapacitation (N.M.I.). The officer(s) is yelling at the subject to put their hands behind their back. Here is the kicker. The subject under N.M.I. cannot, NOT, comply with these orders.  So, officer(s) fail to realize or maybe even understand that the subject is unable to comply and

I have been listening to and reading numerous articles and regarding police action and intervention during the (newest) “LA riots” and now civil unrest in Denver.  Most of these reports seem to be either uneducated or dramatic.  Either way they are not entirely factual.  My guess is because for these incidents, facts can get in the way of a great (money making) news story. Reading some of the comments that seem to come up on social media platforms, LinkedIn being one of them

It was always amazing to me and admittedly frustrating when instructing my basic law class to police academies and in-service training, the seemingly lack of interest. I would clearly explain that being an officer of the law and the power of arrest is awesome and never to be taken lightly. Explain that as an officer you DO NOT have authority over all persons all the time and the drooling and droopy eyes, begins. I would find students with their eyes glazing over and yawning e

I'm certain that most of you that will read this are well versed in Graham v. Conner. And by that you should be well versed in the 'Graham factors'. Put an officer on the stand that has been trained and certified by the state and before you start in with the force they chose to use, I recommend asking them about their knowledge of this case which is THE case that all uses of force are judged in. I would bet that they will stammer and stutter and then try to give you something

I'll keep this short and sweet. Here is a pro tip that a law enforcement officer no longer knows what they are doing, has 'run out of knowledge', 'has reached the end of their training tape'.  If you are reviewing body cam footage, watching a video or reading a police report or a Use of Force report and you hear/ read these phrases; -"You want to go to jail?"  -"If I come back here, someone is going to jail." These phrases are a 'tell', just like in poker. It's a bluff AND th

Maybe you should find out! I know it’s common practice to check an officers training records to ensure that they are trained and authorized to (fill in the blank here).  But are you checking the training records of the ‘trainers’ that are giving the authorization? If not, you should be.

PHIL WEISER Attorney General NATALIE HANLON LEH Chief Deputy Attorney General SHANNON STEVENSON Solicitor General TANJA WHEELER Associate Chief Deputy Attorney General Mr. Matthew Brooks Thornton Police Department (Retired) 9551 Civic Center Dr Thornton, CO 80229 Dear Mr. Brooks, On behalf of the Colorado Peace Officer Standard and Training (POST) Board, I thank you for applying to serve on the POST Academy Redesign Project as a member of our Curriculum Development Team (CDT)

The culture and practice of any law enforcement department or agency should NEVER be- 'Police action and see IF it fits within our constitutional rights'.  -Rather it MUST be our constitutional rights guiding Police Action. And yet I've seen countless times of law enforcement 'fraying the edges' of our Freedom Documents instead of protecting them and applauding our nations citizens of exercising their rights.  The end does not always justify the means.  Be a student of the ga

Vehicle Pursuits ARE Police Use of Force or Response to Resistance I think it’s time to change the mentality around what police pursuits actually are. If an officer is making an arrest and is met with resistance, that officer is covered under the laws of arrest to use reasonable force  to overcome that resistance to the lawful  arrest. Sometimes, part of the resistance encountered is the subject fleeing. Now here’s where my theory gets interesting: In a police pursuit, you ha