FOUNDER, PRESIDENT AND CEO
Jeff Schlanger is a leading authority on institutional change management, with more than four decades of experience at the highest levels of law, law enforcement, independent investigations and monitorships. His newest venture, IntegrAssure, builds on his experience in conducting independent investigations, monitoring police departments, banks, and other major institutions, and blending those skills with a risk management process to promote reform, continuous improvement, and integrity assurance.
EXPERTS
Renee Appelbaum
Renee Appelbaum is a former Lieutenant in the New York City Police Department and recently retired after serving 25 years with the Department. She served as the Executive Officer and then as the Commanding Officer of the Inspector General Coordination Unit (IGCU), which was tasked with direct interface with the Office of the Inspector General of NYPD (OIG), an agency that was created in 2014 to collaboratively develop recommendations for police reform following reviews of policies and practices of the Department. She coordinated NYPD’s responses to OIG reports, including reports on a variety of use of force issues, and was responsible for monitoring and tracking the Department’s implementation of reforms recommended by the OIG. In addition to her responsibilities relative to the OIG, she was also responsible for supervising the production of data and documents to the court-appointed federal monitor and the Department of Investigation.
Ms. Appelbaum’s NYPD experience also includes supervising crime complaint audits in the Data Integrity Unit, and in conducting training on crime reporting for all newly promoted supervisors. She began her career on patrol as a police officer in the 73rd Precinct and as a Sergeant in the 66th Precinct. Prior to joining the NYPD, Ms. Appelbaum received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from New York University
Jorge X. Camacho
Jorge X. Camacho is a Clinical Lecturer in Law and Associate Research Scholar at Yale Law School and serves as the Policing, Law, and Policy Director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. His work at Yale primarily focuses on policing and public safety policy locally and nationally. Prior to joining Yale, Camacho served as a law and policy advisor at the New York City Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and at the New York City Office of the Corporation Counsel. He started his career as an Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and has served on multiple government task forces and committees throughout his years in government service, including serving on the Steering Committee of the New York City Mayor’s Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and chairing its Subcommittee on Law Enforcement and Social Justice. He currently serves as part of the Independent Consent Decree Monitoring Team for the City of Aurora (CO). He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College, where he was a Philip Evans Scholar, and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as a Notes Editor on the Yale Law Journal.
Elizabeth Carreño-Diaz
Elizabeth Carreño-Diaz, Ph.D., is the Senior Director Campus Safety for the Mount Saint Mary’s University (Los Angeles) and served as the Director of Community Affairs & Strategic Communications Bureau at the University of Southern California (USC) Department of Public Safety (DPS). She also served as a Public Information officer for USC DPS, Spanish interpreter, and guest speaker in national campus and law enforcement conferences. She is currently a lecturer on Community relations in Policing at Woodbury University. In addition to field expertise, she possesses a multitude of practitioner and academic certificates. She received her B.S. from California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Woodbury University and a Doctorate on Policy, Planning and Development Degree with a focus on stakeholder analysis and inclusion in the process of transforming public safety at USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Cassandra “Cassi” Chandler
Cassandra “Cassi” Chandler has led a distinguished career in both law enforcement and banking as a leader, an intelligence strategist, and an investigator. Ms. Chandler spent 23 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where she directed criminal and domestic terrorism intelligence, white collar crimes, financial crimes, and cybercrime and foreign intelligence activity investigations. She led the FBI’s training division, redesigned the Bureau’s health care fraud and criminal intelligence programs, and was appointed to the U.S. Senior Executive Service as an Assistant Director. She retired as Special Agent in Charge of the Norfolk, Virginia FBI Field Office. She then joined Bank of America where she was responsible for building an integrated framework to identify, evaluate and assess emerging regulatory risks and the operational effectiveness of enterprise coverage areas. She also served as a member of the NYPD Federal Monitor Team. She is currently President and CEO of Vigeo Alliance, which partners with businesses to grow emerging leaders, retain diverse talent, and build a culture of leadership in an inclusive organization. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive under President George W. Bush, the National Center for Women & Policing’s “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award, and the Norfolk NAACP Trailblazer Award. She earned dual Bachelors of Arts degrees in Journalism and in English from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and a Juris Doctorate from the Loyola University School of Law. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Loyola University and as part of the Independent Consent Decree Monitoring Team for the City of Aurora (CO).
Brandon Del Pozo
Brandon del Pozo served in the New York City Police Department for 19 years, where he commanded two patrol precincts and served in various strategic planning capacities, and for four years as the Chief of Police of Burlington, Vermont. While chief of Burlington, he led the city's response to the opioid crisis with a public health and harm reduction approach, and piloted and implemented ICAT, the Police Executive Research Forum's pathbreaking de-escalation and use of force curriculum. He is presently a postdoctoral researcher in substance use and drug policy at The Miriam Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He serves on the federal consent decree monitoring team for the Newark, New Jersey Police Department and on the Independent Consent Decree Monitoring Team for the City of Aurora (CO). He holds a PhD in philosophy from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York, a master of arts in criminal justice from John Jay College, a master of public administration from Harvard, and a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College.
Robin S. Engel
Robin S. Engel, Ph.D. is the Senior Vice President of the National Policing Institute and was a Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police / UC Center for Police Research and Policy. From 2016-2019, she served as UC’s Vice President for Safety and Reform where her administrative duties included oversight of the daily operations and implementation of comprehensive reform efforts of the University of Cincinnati Police Division (UCPD) in the aftermath of a critical incident involving the fatal police shooting of an unarmed motorist. Dr. Engel engages in police research and evaluations designed to reduce harm in communities and make police-citizen encounters safer by promoting best practices through academic-practitioner partnerships. She has served as Principal Investigator for over eighty research grants, totaling over twenty-one million dollars, and has published over sixty research articles, books, and chapters, along with dozens of technical reports for practitioners. She has previously been ranked among the top academics, and the number one female in the field of criminal justice/criminology based on publications in prestigious peer-reviewed journals. Her work on community violence reduction resulted in several prominent team awards including the 2008 IACP/Motorola Webber Seavey Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement, the 2009 IACP/West Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigations, and the 2008 National Criminal Justice Association’s Outstanding Criminal Justice Program Award. She has served as an expert on policing and violence reduction for panels convened at the White House and 10 Downing Street. In 2017, Dr. Engel was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Albany. She currently serves as a governor-appointed member of the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, and as the co-chair of IACP’s Research Advisory Committee. She is a consultant on police training for the Ohio Attorney General.
Richard Esposito
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Richard Esposito is a corporate and crisis communications strategist whose reputation management expertise spans the public and private sectors and includes significant experience in setting and overseeing complex policy and investigative agendas. His advisory services include litigation support, conflict resolution, C Suite counsel, proactive reputation management and the successful execution of effective media strategies across a complex landscape. To effectively achieve his clients' objectives he utilizes a network of Search Engine Optimization teams, influencers, researchers and dossier compilers, private investigators, and branded content producers. The winner of multiple national Emmy Awards, Mr. Esposito shares in a Pulitzer Prize and has been recognized numerous times for his significant accomplishments as a journalist at ABC News, NBC News and other news organizations in the digital, cable, broadcast, radio and print industries. Prior to forming his practice in 2022, Mr. Esposito, as the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner for Public Information and Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Communications, he oversaw the nation's largest public affairs operation outside of the White House and served as advisor to the New York City Police Commissioner. He was charged with communications policy and strategy especially as it pertained to initiatives designed to win back public trust. He was responsible for executive communications training and the development of branded content including podcasts targeting diverse audiences and videos that took the audience behind the scenes of specialized units. Immediately preceding this role he executive produced an award winning seven- part series, "Reckoning and Reform," for PBS’ Syracuse based WCNY. That series came right after his role as Sr. Investigative Producer for ABC Lincoln Square Productions' six-part series on the world altering events of 1969 which included the incident at Chappaquiddick, the Charles Manson murders, and the Apollo 11 moon landing and was nominated for an Emmy Award for the episode on the death of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton at the hands of Chicago police. As Sr. Executive Producer, Investigations for NBC News, his role preceding these assignments, Esposito built and ran a 28 person unit for the network and brought Edward Snowden to America's TV screens for the first time. In addition to numerous public facing investigations, and orchestrating coverage for major national and international events including NBC's award winning coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing, Esposito conducted significant internal investigations, most notably one designed to restore the network's damaged reputation for fairness and honesty. At ABC News, where he served as Senior Investigative Reporter, he took audiences inside the CIA's secret prisons revealing for the first time in a George Polk Award winning series of reports the specific locations and techniques used to extract questionable confessions. A five time Emmy Award winner, he also was twice recognized with an Edward Murrow Award for Breaking News. Before entering the ranks of network news reporters and executives he served as Metropolitan Editor and then Editor of the Sunday New York Daily News and as City Editor at New York Newsday where he was member of a Pulitzer Prize winning team. He is the author of two non-fiction books on law enforcement and writes, lectures and serves as a commentator, panelist, and moderator on counter-terrorism, investigations, law enforcement and public affairs.
Dean M. Esserman
Dean Esserman has more than three decades of experience in law enforcement and is currently serving as the Senior Counselor of the National Police Foundation. He started as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York from 1983 to 1987. He went on to serve as a Special Assistant United States Attorney before serving as General Counsel to Chief William Bratton of the New York City Transit Police from 1987 to 1991. He was the Assistant Chief of Police in New Haven, Connecticut from 1991 to 1993, where he put into effect a community policing plan, cut crime city-wide and established the Connecticut’s first federally funded Drug Gang Task Force. He then became Chief of Police for the M.T.A. Metro North Police Department, headquartered in New York City, serving from 1993 to 1998. In 1998, he was appointed as Chief of Police in Stamford, Connecticut. He was also concurrently appointed, while serving as Chief, by the Federal Courts as the Monitor of the Wallkill, New York Police Department in 2000. In 2002, he returned to New York City to join Thacher Associates. Later that year, he was recruited as Chief of Police of the City of Providence, Rhode Island, where he served 8 ½ years until July 1, 2011. He was also appointed as a Distinguished Professor and Executive in Residence at the Roger Williams University School of Justice Studies. On October 18, 2011, he was recruited back as the Chief of Police for the City of New Haven, Connecticut. Upon returning to New Haven in 2011, he was also appointed as a visiting faculty member at both Yale University and the Yale Law School as well as being appointed as a visiting faculty member and practitioner in residence at the University of New Haven. He also holds a lecturer’s appointment at the Yale University Child Study Center.
He has served as a member of the Board of the Vera Institute of Justice, the National Police Foundation, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), and the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School. Presently he serves as a member of the Board of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). He is a lifetime member of the IACP and served as the Chair of the Juvenile Justice and Child Protection Committee. He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Executive Institute and the Law Enforcement Counter Terrorism Program. He is also a graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police and the United States Secret Service Dignitary Protection Program. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College (BA) and New York University School of Law (JD) and is a member of the New York and Massachusetts Bars.
Rudolph Hall
Rudolph Hall has more than two decades in law enforcement and currently serves as the Assistant Chief of Investigations for the New York State Attorney General (AG) leading the Office of Special Investigation (OSI). OSI is tasked with overseeing all investigations of deaths of citizens after having police contact, including officer-involved shootings, motor vehicle collisions, use of physical force, and deaths in custody whether in police or correctional care and control across the State of New York. Chief Hall has led various policy initiatives, including policies and procedures on shooting at moving vehicles, engaging in foot pursuits, and shooting to incapacitate. He has created training platforms for law enforcement, employing best practices, innovative technology, bolstered by his academic research and experience in policing. Before joining the AG’s Office, Chief Hall worked for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for 21 years in a variety of different positions including patrol, gang unit, street crime unit, detective bureau, Joint Terrorism Task Force, Risk Management Bureau, and Force Investigations Division. He worked extensively on the implementation of NYPD’s body-worn camera program and assisted in the crafting of the training platform for the entire agency. In 2018, he created the first anti-crime training program for the NYPD plainclothes officers, training approximately 1,000 plainclothes officers on when and how to conduct constitutional pedestrian and vehicular stops.
Chief Hall has a Doctorate in Education with a concentration on Executive Leadership from St. John Fisher College where he focused his research on the effect of body-worn cameras on plainclothes police officers in the NYPD. Chief Hall also has Masters of Public Administration from John Jay College, where he continues to teach an introductory course on criminal justice and a course on the use of force. He is certified by the Force Science Institute in the analysis of use of force incidents and has lectured extensively on constitutional policing, body-worn cameras, and the role of risk management in law enforcement.
Martin F. Horn
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Martin F. Horn is an internationally recognized innovator, reformer and authority on the delivery of correctional services. Mr. Horn served as Distinguished Lecturer in Corrections at John Jay College from September 2009 until January 2020. During that time he also served as Executive Director of the New York State Sentencing Commission by appointment of Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman. From March 1995 to January 2000, Horn served as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Corrections. During his tenure, staff and inmate safety and health care improved, suicides were reduced and drug use by prisoners was significantly and demonstrably reduced.
On January 1, 2002, he was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to serve as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation, and a year later Bloomberg appointed him to simultaneously serve as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction, the city’s jail system. He held both positions simultaneously until July 2009. As Correction Commissioner, he rebuilt morale; accountability and integrity. He reduced suicides among inmates and cut jail violence in half. Mr. Horn reduced the introduction of drugs into jail by initiating New York’s first drug interdiction program and created the largest and most ambitious jail reentry program in the nation. He reengineered the intake process to ensure all inmates were properly screened for vulnerability and possessed the documents needed to work upon release. He created systems to identify high-frequency jail and shelter users. With the city’s housing and homeless services community, he addressed the needs for housing of discharged persons. As Probation Commissioner, Mr. Horn focused on high-risk offenders, improving the delivery of treatment for addiction to alcohol and other drugs, and employment of offenders. Recidivism among adult probationers dropped faster than in any other jurisdiction in New York State. His effort led to major changes in the city’s approach to juvenile delinquents. He has served as co-chair of the American Bar Association Corrections Committee and has chaired the policy and resolutions committees of the American Correctional Association and the Association of State Corrections Administrators. He has been a Commissioner of the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections and is a member of the Corrections Psychiatric Advisory Board of the New York State Justice Center.
Bayan Lewis
Bayan Lewis spent 40 years in Law Enforcement, retiring as Chief of Police of the Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety, a position he held for 5 ½ years. Prior to his time with LA County, he spent 34 years in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), retiring as the Interim Chief of Police following the resignation of Willie Williams.
Preceding his appointment as Interim Chief of Police of LAPD, he was Assistant Chief, Director of Operations, where he was responsible for the management and leadership of some 85% of the department, including all patrol and most detective functions. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Chief, he held a variety of key positions such as the commanding officer of Anti-Terrorist Division; and Commander of Uniformed Service Group which included S.W.A.T., K-9, Air Support, METRO, and Tactical Planning. He was also a Deputy Chief of Headquarters Bureau which included all specialized detectives and emergency planning. He established protocols for the LA City Emergency Operations Center and implemented the Joint Command System and developed the technical processes and standards of curriculum of the LAPD recruit training division.
After his retirement from LAPD, he was sought out by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to merge three individual LA County police agencies into one cohesive department. He accomplished that goal and fashioned the newly formed LA County Office of Public Safety (OPS) into one of the premier specialized law enforcement agencies in Southern California. Within that agency he established the first law enforcement agency-specific team for nuclear/chemical/biological response including equipment, tactics and training.
After his years with OPS, Mr. Lewis served in a variety of law enforcement related positions with the Los Angeles World Airport (LAWA) including as Interim Director of Safety Services until they could fill that position with a permanent, qualified individual where he was the point of contact for the Federal Bio-Watch Agency in preparation for placement of biological monitoring devices within the City of LA. Mr. Lewis formed the Airport Security Advisory Committee (ASAC) to develop a comprehensive all-hazard emergency management program including shared intelligence and counter-terrorism procedures the heart of which was collaboration and information sharing between LAWA and TSA, FBI, LAFD, LAPD, the Customs and Border Protection and others. The ASAC provided an organized and structured format for all key emergency responders to plan, train and develop integrated, multi-agency responses for all-hazards including defining roles and responsibilities for major critical incidents.
Mr. Lewis has conducted training on emergency management and planning for FEMA, Narcotics Interdiction Control Institute and is currently an integral part of the training team for the California Specialized Training Institute, Office of Emergency Services providing emergency management policy and procedures to police and city agencies all over California. He continues to consult on police leadership, risk management, moral and ethical issues in law enforcement, and provides training to police agencies on various administrative and supervisory topics such as ethics, leadership, and critical incident investigations. Most recently Mr. Lewis was asked by both the University of Cincinnati Police Department and the City of Boulder Colorado Police Department to train supervisors on the processes and techniques of conducting thorough and timely internal investigations of complaints and use of force incidents.
Mr. Lewis holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from Pepperdine University, and is a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
Tanya Meisenholder
Tanya Meisenholder, Ph.D., has over two decades of experience in law enforcement and currently serves as a senior advisor in the Training Bureau at the New York City Police Department (NYPD.) Her work focuses on police reform and organizational change, training and development, diversity, equity, and inclusion, research and evaluation, and project and risk management. During her tenure at the NYPD, Dr. Meisenholder has served in various leadership roles, including Deputy Commissioner of Equity and Inclusion, Assistant Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives, Chief of Staff to the First Deputy Police Commissioner, and Executive Director of the Police Commissioner's Office. Before joining the NYPD, she worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Birmingham, Alabama Police Department; Schenectady, Albany, and Troy, New York Police Departments and the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Dr. Meisenholder holds a Ph.D. in criminal justice from the State University of New York at Albany, a Master of Science in criminal justice from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Louisiana State University. She is a graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police. She is certified as a Modern Chief Diversity Officer and in EEO investigations by the Industrial and Labor Relations School at Cornell University. She presently serves on the University of Albany's Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy Advisory Board and on the steering committee for the 30x30 Initiative to advance women in policing.
Allie Meizlish
Allie Meizlish is a consultant with an expertise in criminal justice policy. She began her career as an Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney’s Office and then joined the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice ("MOCJ"), where she was the Senior Counsel for Crime & Justice Policy. At MOCJ, her work primarily centered around reducing crime, lightening the touch of low-level enforcement, and increasing fairness in New York City’s criminal justice system. Allie worked closely with the District Attorneys, the NYPD, City Council, several city agencies, and other stakeholders, to develop and implement major reforms within the system. Allie was also the Deputy Director of the Policing Project at New York University School of Law, an organization that partners with communities and police to promote public safety through transparency, equity, and democratic engagement. Now, as a consultant, some of Allie's recent clients include the Data Collaborative for Justice at John Jay College and the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, where she has advised on policy implications of research and data analysis, as well as co-authored several reports on crime trends and collateral consequences of the criminal justice system. Allie is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Yale University.
Sue Ordakowski
Sue Ordakowski is an expert in the areas of government contracting and organizational compliance. She has served in senior positions at a number of federal contractors including as the Chief Contract Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Executive Management Committee member at KeyPoint Government Solutions from March 2004 to August 2018. As KeyPoint’s chief contracting officer, Ms. Ordakowski provided business operations support to government contract programs for pricing, contract negotiation and administration, consulting and subcontract agreement preparation, negotiation, and administration. As KeyPoint’s chief compliance officer, she was responsible for all aspects of government contract compliance including internal affairs and integrity assurance covering the work of KeyPoint’s 2500+ security clearance investigators. Ms. Ordakowski also served as the Contract Security Officer (CSO) for KeyPoint’s intelligence agency contracts. Sue is a graduate of George Mason University and has a Procurement and Contracts Management certificate from the University of Virginia.
Christopher W. Ortiz
Christopher W. Ortiz, Ph.D., has worked in and around law enforcement for the past 25 years. Chris began his professional career as a police officer with the New York City Police Department as a patrol officer. In 1997, he transferred to the Glen Cove (NY) Police Department where he currently serves as Deputy Chief of Police. Chris has served as a consultant/researcher with several criminal justice policy think-tanks on topics pertaining to police practices, police accountability, organizational management, and hiring/selection. Over the past 20 years, he has worked on several national research and evaluation projects for the Police Foundation, Vera Institute of Justice, Police Assessment Resource Center, John Jay College, and Rand Corporation. Chris holds a Ph.D. from City University of New York Graduate Center in Criminal Justice Policy Analysis, a master’s degree from Long Island University in Criminal Justice, and a bachelor’s degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Criminology/Sociology. Chris is a graduate of the FBI National Academy for Police Officers, PERF’s Senior Management Institute for Police and the FBI LEEDS program. In 2017, Chris was named a National Institute of Justice LEADS Scholar and presently works with the program to help advance practitioner-based research and evidence-based policy and practice in policing.
Judy Pal
Judy Pal has served in management positions for police, private sector and the professional sports and entertainment industry in both Canada and the U.S. for more than 30 years. Prior to embarking on a full-time teaching and consulting career she served as an Assistant Commissioner with the NYPD, Director of Operations for FBI-LEEDA, Chief of Staff with the Baltimore and Milwaukee Police Departments, and was a member of the command staff of the Atlanta, Savannah, and Halifax (Canada) police departments. She conducted image and media training for more than 200 commanders with the NYPD and thousands of law enforcement professionals during her more than two decades of work in law enforcement. She is also a regular contributing trainer at FBI Regional Command Colleges across the country. She has consulted for international police agencies in Canada, Chile and Trinidad and has taught and spoken at events across North America, as well as Australia, Uruguay and Manilla. She spent five years in television news, and is the proud owner of a Stanley Cup ring from the Edmonton Oilers and worked for the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden. She is a past president of the National Information Officers Association, holds a Master’s Degree in Public Relations and earned her Certificate in Police Leadership from Dalhousie University in Canada.
Kenton Rainey
Kenton Rainey has over four decades of public safety experience. He has been selected as Chief of Police of three different law enforcement agencies. He was the University of Chicago Chief of Police from 2017 – 2021, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Chief of Police from 2010 – 2016 and the Fairfield (CA) Chief of Police from 2007 – 2009. Under his leadership, BART police department was Awarded the Transit Security Administration (TSA) "Gold Standard" for Baseline Assessments for Security Enhancement. Mr. Rainey began his law enforcement career in 1979 as a Deputy in the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. Over his four-decade career, Rainey has worked for seven different law enforcement agencies in four states. He has the distinct and unique perspective of having worked for city, county, airport, transit, and higher education law enforcement agencies. He has a deep commitment to Community Oriented Policing & Problem Solving (COPPS) which he has successfully implemented in five different law enforcement agencies while utilizing geographical team policing structures. In 2018, he was the City of Chicago National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Officer of the Year. He also served on the Board of Directors of the National Alliance on Mentally Ill (NAMI) CA (2013 – 2016) and the City of Chicago (2018 – 2021). He also served as a Fellow for National Organization Black Law Enforcement Executives. He is also the former President of Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and the former Board of Directors of Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) & Legal Defense Trustee for PORAC.
Mr. Rainey earned his B.A. in Criminal Justice from California State University Long Beach and his Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. He also earned leadership certificates from UCLA and various other recognized entities which include the California Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training (POST), National Organization Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). He currently serves on the IPA team for Petaluma and San Leandro.
Dayna Schock
Dayna Schock is a former active-duty member of the United States Coast Guard, where she served from 1996 until 2016. In the Coast Guard she served in a variety of roles specializing in Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement and Training. In two decades of service, she conducted drug interdiction, migrant interdiction, search and rescue, fisheries enforcement, homeland and maritime security, and defense operations including port security and tactical pursuit.
During Ms. Schock’s tenure in the Coast Guard she worked with an assortment of other agencies including the US Secret Service participating in both Presidential and Vice-Presidential security details; the US Navy, ICE and US Border Patrol, performing migrant interdiction; DEA, ATF, FBI conducting counter-drug operations; and FEMA performing disaster relief. She has also worked extensively with state and local law enforcement from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. While stationed in New Jersey, she was called to respond to New York City on September 11, 2001. Her next year was spent patrolling the waters around Washington, DC in joint security efforts with other federal agencies and local police. In 2003, as the executive officer of a Protector Class Patrol Boat, she was sent to the Port of Morehead City, NC to provide port security for civilian and military cargo ships as they loaded and sailed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Ms. Schock is a certified Technical Instructor specializing in on-the-job training. She was instrumental in developing the regulations and training programs for what would become the Tactical Pursuit Training Course. She served as a Federal Law Enforcement Instructor, trained, and certified by the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy now in Charleston, SC. As a qualified Boarding Officer, she also served as a Boarding Safety Officer and on-scene analyst during and after boardings, especially boardings requiring use of force. Ms. Schock taught and coached numerous active duty and reserve Coast Guard members in use of force, technique, tactical pursuit, boarding approach and departure, heavy weather-boat operations, first aid, firefighting, marksmanship and search and rescue coordination.
Prior to joining the Coast Guard, Ms. Schock studied Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina while training as a police cadet. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and finance, and an associate degree in business administration from Thomas Edison State University, in Trenton, NJ. Ms. Schock is a graduate of the USCG Senior Enlisted Leadership Academy in New London, CT. She holds a 100-ton Master Merchant Mariner’s License with a towing endorsement.
Denise Lewis
Denise Lewis has spent over 30 years developing and honing her expertise in the areas of law enforcement, internal and external investigations of police agencies, and most notably, the independent monitoring of police organizations. She held a variety of patrol and supervisory assignments conducting both criminal and internal investigations before retiring from LAPD. In 2000, then-Sergeant Lewis was assigned to the internal investigation team reviewing the causal factors of the LAPD’s Rampart CRASH corruption incident – a scandal that led to the Department of Justice investigation of that organization, and eventually LAPD’s agreement to a Federal Consent Decree. During her tenure with the LAPD, Ms. Lewis led the newly created Audit Unit, which was mandated by the Consent Decree. Ms. Lewis and her staff received audit training from the Independent Monitor’s team on how to develop formal audit work plans based on management objectives, policies and procedures, and applicable state and federal laws in order to ensure compliance and identify risk management issues. In the Audit Unit, she supervised both sworn and civilian staff in completing on-going audits designed to determine the department’s level of compliance with Consent Decree mandates. Audit findings included not only the status of compliance, but more importantly, recommendations to remedy barriers to success. At least in part as a result of her work in this area, LAPD successfully implemented the required reforms and the Consent Decree was deemed to be a resounding success. Since retiring from LAPD, for almost six years, starting in 2003 Ms. Lewis was a member of the Independent Monitoring team of the Detroit Police Department (DPD) where she provided DPD with the Technical Assistance to stand up their internal audit unit. In addition to training the DPD audit staff, Ms. Lewis also conducted compliance assessments of DPD’s various reform efforts including best practices and applicable standards for investigations, uses of force, training, holding cell facilities, and assessment of the audits completed by DPD. Ms. Lewis has assisted numerous police departments, including the Los Angeles Airport Police Department and the San Jose Police Departments in establishing and institutionalizing the internal audit function, including the development of the requisite audit protocols, policies, procedures to help manage the many risks associated with law enforcement activities. In addition, she has provided training to police departments on the evaluation of policies and procedures related to use of force, arrest, and detention. Most recently, Ms. Lewis served as Deputy Monitor of the University of Cincinnati’s Police Department (UCPD) during its voluntary monitorship that resulted from a fatal officer involved shooting. Following that event, the UCPD underwent a comprehensive review and subsequently agreed to implement 276 recommendations over a three-year period. Through the department’s resolve and determination, and with the assistance and expertise of the monitoring team, the UCPD was able to achieve compliance in only two years successfully complying with all the recommendations.
Robert H. Silbering
Robert H. Silbering has, since 1997, served in senior private sector positions responsible for conducting corporate due diligence, fraud and forensic investigations, litigation support, court-appointed monitorships, cyber-crime prevention and investigation, risk analysis and global intelligence services. Prior to entering the private sector, Mr. Silbering served for seven years as the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for New York City following seven years as the Chief Assistant there. The Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor is the only prosecutorial agency with city-wide jurisdiction, was and remains the only office in the nation dedicated solely to the investigation and prosecution of narcotic offenses. Under his direction, and working collaboratively with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, Special Narcotics gained national and international prominence as a stellar example of an innovative, efficient, and effective prosecutor’s office. Mr. Silbering has received the Michael Buzcek Foundation Man of the Year Award, the International Narcotics Enforcement Association Award of Honor and St. John’s University Prosecutor’s Award. Prior to his roles at Special Narcotics, he had a distinguished career in the New York County District Attorney’s Office serving as the Bureau Chief of the Juvenile Offense Bureau and as the Chief of a Trial Bureau. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and has lectured before the National College of District Attorneys, the New York County Lawyers Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute and the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association. He currently serves as President of the Federal Drug Agents Foundation, which is comprised of business leaders from around the nation lending support to the work of law enforcement and providing financial assistance to the families of slain or wounded law enforcement agents.
John Thomas
John Thomas currently serves as the interim Chief for the University of California, Los Angeles Police Department. Prior to that, he served as the Chief of Police at the University of Southern California (USC) Department of Public Safety (DPS). Chief Thomas has spent close to four decades in law enforcement including twenty-one years as a member of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) where he retired at the rank of Lieutenant in December 2005 and took a position as Deputy Chief of Police for the University of the District of Columbia Department of Public Safety & Emergency Management in Washington D.C. He is currently serving as a member of the Independent Consent Decree Monitoring Team for the City of Aurora (CO). As a member of the Los Angeles Police Department, Chief Thomas worked patrol assignments primarily in South Los Angeles in Wilshire, 77th Street, Southwest, Newton Street and Pacific Divisions. He was also assigned to the Department's Gang Enforcement Detail in South Los Angeles and worked undercover narcotic enforcement as a member of the Department's FALCON (Focused Attack Linking Community Organizations and Neighborhoods) Unit. While assigned to FALCON he was awarded the City of Los Angeles’ City Angel Award for outstanding community enhancement and the Department's Meritorious Unit Citation. Perhaps most notably, Chief Thomas served as Adjutant to four LAPD Police Chiefs including two interim chiefs and Chief Bernard Parks and Chief William Bratton. Despite being a retired Los Angeles Police Lieutenant, he continues to “Protect and Serve” the people of Los Angeles as an LAPD Line Reserve Officer working patrol and other assignments throughout the city. Chief Thomas has been on the Board of Directors for The Challenger’s Boys & Girl’s Club in South LA and has been on the Board of Directors for Los Angeles Police Historical Society since 1999. He has been published and has researched and written extensively on the Early Black History of LAPD and Los Angeles. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Police Officers’ Association of Los Angeles County (POALAC) and, serves on the Board of Advisors for the USC Price School’s Safe Communities Institute. He is a member of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Pac 12 Campus Chiefs’ Association, Campus Safety Magazine Advisory Board, California College & University Police Chiefs Association, and the FBI National Academy Associates. Chief Thomas graduated from Crenshaw High School before attending UCLA. He holds a BA in Liberal Arts and a Master’s Degree in Executive Leadership from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Jeff Thompson
Jeff Thompson, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at the Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology Research Area of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and also the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Depression in the Psychiatry Department at Columbia University Medical Center. His research includes developing resilience and positive mental health strategies, hostage negotiation in terrorist incidents, suicide prevention, psychological autopsies, and the use of effective communication during crisis incidents. His training material has been implemented in police agencies across the United States and across the world. He is an 18-year law enforcement veteran detective with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and a former hostage negotiator. In his current role at the NYPD, Detective Thompson is the Mental Health and Wellness Coordinator helping conduct research and outreach on the department’s suicide prevention and postvention efforts, reducing the stigma associated with mental illness and help-seeking, enhancing resilience through evidence-based practices, and raising awareness of resources available to both police officers and the public. He is the recipient of the Griffith University Arts, Education and Law's 2020 Outstanding International Alumnus Award and The New York City Police Foundation’s 2020 Hemmerdinger Award for Excellence for Distinguished Public Service.
Benjamin B. Tucker
Benjamin B. Tucker began his career with the New York City Police Department in 1969 as a Police Trainee. As one of a select group of trainees he received specialized training from medical and substance abuse experts to participate in the first NYPD sponsored school-based drug prevention education program. Tucker became a Police Officer in 1972. During his 22 years with the NYPD, he performed a wide range of uniform
and plain clothes assignments, as well as police academy instructor, legal advisor in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters; and Assistant Director of the Civilian Complaint Review Board. He continued his public service as a senior executive under Mayor Edward I. Koch, serving as the Deputy Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services in the Mayor’s Office of Operations, and First Deputy Commissioner and Executive Director of the Commission on Human Rights. He also served as Chief of Operations in the Office of the Manhattan Borough President, and in the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as Chief Executive for School Safety and Planning for the Department of Education.
In 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton appointed Mr. Tucket as the Deputy Director for Operations in the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the United States Department of Justice. In 2009, he was nominated by President Barack H. Obama, and confirmed by the United States Senate, as the Deputy Director for State, Local and Tribal Affairs within the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Prior to joining the Justice Department Tucker implemented and directed research demonstration projects at the Substance Abuse Strategy Initiative at New York University and the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. These projects were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of post incarceration services for formerly incarcerated substance abusers re-entering society and the provision of services for pre-adolescents at-risk of getting involved in drugs and crime.
His unique blend of law enforcement, criminal justice policy expertise and academic experience led to his return to the NYPD as Deputy Commissioner of Training during Police Commissioner William J. Bratton’s reengineering of the Department in 2014. In November that same year, he was sworn in as the 43rd First Deputy Commissioner and entrusted to direct several bureaus, including Personnel, Training, Criminal Justice, Risk Management, Department Advocate, Trials, and Labor Relations. After seven years as the second in command of the NYPD, he retired December 2021. In January, 2022, he was appointed Trustee on the Northwell Health Board of Trustees, the largest health care system in New York State. In recognition of his accomplishments and leadership in criminal justice and public policy, he was elected to the Council on Criminal Justice, a think tank dedicated to advancing the understanding of criminal justice policy. Tucker is also a member of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions, which is committed to advancing effective drug policies. He holds a BS degree in Criminal Justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, a JD degree from the Fordham University School of Law. He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pace University where he is a tenured professor.
Chris Waters
Captain Chris Waters has worked a variety of assignments and locations including Patrol, Central Traffic Division, Detectives, Vice, Office of Operations and Civil Rights Integrity Division-CRID and Internal Affairs during her 35-year career with the Los Angeles Police Department. She has had the distinction of being the Adjutant to three Deputy Chiefs while assigned to Operations-South Bureau. She has been a Watch Commander, Vice Officer-in-Charge (OIC), Homicide Detective and the Commanding Officer of Commission Investigation Division (CID). The CID the regulatory arm of the Police Commission.
In 2016, she was promoted to Patrol Commanding Officer at Newton Division. She later became the Patrol Commanding Officer at Northeast Division. In 2020, she promoted to Captain II, Commanding Officer of Juvenile Division. In 2021, she came full circle and returned to Northeast Division as Captain III, Area Commanding Officer. She is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration; received a Master of Arts degree from California State University at Dominguez Hills in Behavioral Science; a degree in Biblical Studies from Cottonwood Leadership College and most recently, received her Doctorate in Criminal Justice from California University of Pennsylvania. She holds California State Police Officer Standards in Training (POST) Certificates for the Basic, Advanced, Supervisory and Management levels. She has also completed and graduated from LAPD's Command Development School, West Point Leadership School, the Sherman Block Leadership Institute and the FBI National Academy Class #255. She is a past member of the Executive Board of Directors for Challengers Boys and Girls Club, and Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives. She is the current President of the Southern California Chapter of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and Past Region VI Vice-President (NOBLE). She is an active member of other employee organizations such as: OJB, LA-LEY, LAPOWA, PERF, IACP, and FBINA.
Jim Whalen
James L. Whalen recently retired as the Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police at the University of Cincinnati. Mr. Whalen began his career with the University of Cincinnati after retiring from the Cincinnati Police Department in September of 2015, where he served for nearly 30 years. Mr. Whalen began his career in law enforcement with the Metropolitan-Dade County Police Department in Miami, Florida, working there for three years before returning to his hometown and joining the Cincinnati Police Department in 1986. Mr. Whalen made his way through the ranks and was appointed an Assistant Police Chief for the City of Cincinnati in June 2005. In ten years as an Assistant Police Chief, Mr. Whalen had experience in commanding all facets of the Department.Mr. Whalen played a significant role in the development of the Collaborative Agreement as well as the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Justice and the Cincinnati Police Department and was charged with implementing many of the reforms derived from those historic documents. Mr. Whalen joined the University of Cincinnati at a time of great turmoil and played a significant role in implementing and maintaining reform measures there as well. Mr. Whalen earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement at the University of Cincinnati and a Juris Doctorate degree at Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Certified Law Enforcement Executive Officer course administered by the Ohio Law Enforcement Foundation, and the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police in Boston. In 2013, Mr. Whalen was inducted into the Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame at George Mason University.