Leadership Biographies

Christina Caffrey’s inspiration for a career in emergency management and public safety came when she was living in Thailand during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and supported with the recovery efforts. She has lived around the world and worked in non-profit, private (oil and gas, financial and insurance companies) and municipal government. Her work with municipal government largely includes supporting essential services like water, 9-1-1 and peace officers, as well as liaising with, and delivering, reports to elected officials. In her current role with The City of Calgary (Alberta, Canada), she leads a team a responsible for strategic risk, business continuity, emergency management, issues management and information management that supports the Operational Services department of over 7000 people. Also, since 2019 she has been an instructor for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s (NAIT) emergency management program.

Through her work, as well as volunteering with Canada Task Force 2’s Incident Management Team, Christina has been deployed to various provincial and national disasters like wildfires and floods since 2011. She has her BA in International Development, Masters in Disaster & Emergency Management, and designations as a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP), and certificates in Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Communications. To further highlight her passion and desire to collaborate she has partnered with other professionals to publish in Municipal World and Canadian Security magazines.

Lorenzo Tiraboschi

Lorenzo Tiraboschi is a critical care nurse working at St George’s hospital in London with a background of five years in two different ED in London.

His passion for public safety started when he was in the Italian Army and realizing that his comrades were not properly trained in first aid he approached the local ambulance service to receive training. Left the army he volunteered on the emergency ambulances of the Italian Red Cross, worked as instructor of first aid and trauma care for the oil and gas industry before starting nursing at the university. While at the university he volunteered in the local firefighting base.

He emigrated to UK hoping one day to come back to Italy to work as ambulance nurse.

He is passionate of tactical medicine and he served in the TEMS Committee of IPSA. This passion brought him to train as tactical medic in US and in bringing back to Italy this expertise teaching TCCC and Stop The Bleed.

He is passionate about interoperability in the public safety sector and in empower operators and bystanders through teaching of emergency medicine.

Alphabetical Order: Advisory Committee

Wayne Bailey has been volunteering and public safety since 1975. In 1995 he went to work for the North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) after 18 years in the banking world. During his time at OSFM, he served as a Deputy Director over training, certification, accreditation and ISO Inspections for the entire state.

In 2016, Wayne starting flying uncrewed aircraft vehicles and in 2018, he was credentialed as a FAA Part 107 Pilot. After retirement from OSFM in 2019, Wayne went to work for Blue Ridge Mountain Drones as their Chief Pilot. Wayne stays busy teaching the FAA part 107 rules to mostly public safety and educators. Currently he is working on his AUVSI Top I certification, NIST Train the Trainer, Certified Flight Instructor.

Dr. Scott Blandford is a retired (30 yr.) police officer who has held a variety of operational and administrative positions, including emergency response, criminal investigation, training, human resources, and research & planning where he was responsible for policy and procedure development, major planning and overseeing the development a competency-based performance management, career development, and promotional system for his organization. In addition, he has been an instructor and administrator for several college and university programs focused on policing & public safety for over 30 years. He is currently the coordinator of all undergraduate and graduate policing/public safety program for Wilfrid Laurier University, in addition to sitting on several internal and external committees.

As a life-long learner, Scott has completed a Fanshawe College Management Studies certificate, a Dalhousie University Certificate in Police Leadership; is a graduate of the Bachelor of Professional Arts (Criminal Justice major) program at Athabasca University; and has completed a Diploma in Public Administration and Master of Public Administration degree at the University of Western Ontario. Scott completed his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree at Columbia Southern University, with his dissertation, entitled Hired with Competence: An Examination of Police Hiring Standards in Canada, focusing on the nexus between performance management and competency-based hiring practices in Canadian police services. His research focus is on organizational development in public safety organizations, and competency-based recruiting and development of police officers, and he has presented nationally and internationally on these topics.

Christina Caffrey’s inspiration for a career in emergency management and public safety came when she was living in Thailand during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and supported with the recovery efforts. She has lived around the world and worked in non-profit, private (oil and gas, financial and insurance companies) and municipal government. Her work with municipal government largely includes supporting essential services like water, 9-1-1 and peace officers, as well as liaising with, and delivering, reports to elected officials. In her current role with The City of Calgary (Alberta, Canada), she leads a team a responsible for strategic risk, business continuity, emergency management, issues management and information management that supports the Operational Services department of over 7000 people. Also, since 2019 she has been an instructor for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s (NAIT) emergency management program.

Through her work, as well as volunteering with Canada Task Force 2’s Incident Management Team, Christina has been deployed to various provincial and national disasters like wildfires and floods since 2011. She has her BA in International Development, Masters in Disaster & Emergency Management, and designations as a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP), and certificates in Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Communications. To further highlight her passion and desire to collaborate she has partnered with other professionals to publish in Municipal World and Canadian Security magazines.

Terrence P. Dwyer is a professor of legal studies at Western Connecticut State University and an attorney admitted to the practice of law in Connecticut and New York. He is the author of Legal Issue in Homeland Security (2014), and since 2008 he has been the Police Liability & Litigation columnist for PoliceOne.com. Dwyer retired from the New York State Police in 2007 after a 22-year career, 17½ of which were as an Investigator in the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). His last assignment was with the Violent Crimes Investigative Team (Major Crimes Unit). He was a U.S. Naval Reservist from 1993 until honorably discharged in 2001.

Dwyer earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University, a Juris Doctorate from Pace University School of Law, and a post-graduate certificate in labor studies from Cornell University.

Joseph Eaton is the Admin Assistant Chief for Lawrenceburg Fire Department in Tennessee. He has 24 + Years in local city government and has worked his way through the ranks starting as a firefighter to his current position. He holds an A.A.S. in Fire Science, a B.S. in Fire Science, a Masters in Business Administration, and he has earned the Chief Fire Officer Designation through the Center of Public Safety Excellence.

He also serves as a County Commissioner for Lawrence County. He is currently serving his third term in this position. He has served on several committees including Safety and the Budget Committee. He has earned the Certified Public Administrator Designation through the Center of Technical Assistance Service at the University of Tennessee.

Shane Fitzpatrick has worked within the public safety community for over 25 years with experience in mountain rescue, avalanche forecasting, emergency medical services and tactical medicine in BC and Alberta. He has spent the last 18 years working as an Advanced Care Paramedic in Alberta. He was a member of the Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS) Team for 9 years, working as a tactical medic imbedded within the Calgary Police Tactical Unit and worked as an Interim/Assistant Supervisor of Clinical Operations with Calgary Metro EMS. Shane is currently working as an Emergency Management Officer with AHS Emergency/Disaster Management.

Shane has been instrumental in the development of the Alberta Health Services EMS Active Shooter/Hostile Event response protocol and was rewarded with a Certificate of Exemplary Recognition in Innovation and Leadership from Alberta Health Services. He collaborated with the International Public Safety Association (IPSA) as Chair of the TEMS Committee to produce several publications on tactical medicine and he was a guest speaker at several International Tactical Medical Conferences. In 2018 Shane founded Crisis Point Trauma Care Inc. Shane is dedicated and passionate about training the first responder community and the general public in Stop the Bleed techniques and empowering them to become the immediate responder prior to the arrival of medical professionals.

Shane enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. He is an outdoors enthusiast and loves to ski, climb and mountain bike in the Rocky Mountains. As a volunteer medic at summer camp, he was appropriately referred to as ‘Nine Lives’.

Shinar Haynes is a member of the IPSA's Mental Health Section, she is the NENA Coordinator for the North Region of Texas, and an APCO Group Leader. Her public safety career that began in 2003 with the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC). In 2015, Shinar moved to New Orleans to lead the newly consolidated Orleans Parish Communication District (OPCD) and was appointed as the agency’s first Director of Operations. Most recently she served as the Executive Director for Tarrant County 9-1-1.

She is the CEO of Responder Services Consulting working with public safety and emergency management agencies. Shinar is among the elite group of Certification Public Safety Executives (CPE) and Registered Public Safety Leaders (RPL). She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Homeland Security and Emergency Management, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. She is an active member of IPSA, APCO, NENA, IAED, IAEM, SHRM, and PERF.

David L. Holl is the Director of Public Safety for Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. In that role he oversees the police department, emergency medical services, is liaison to two Township volunteer fire companies, and serves as the municipal Emergency Management Coordinator. Prior to his appointment at Lower Allen, Director Holl served as the Deputy Director for Operations for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and previously as Deputy Director for Administration at PEMA. In those roles he oversaw the state Emergency Operations Center, the Bureau of Recovery and Mitigation, and the State 911 Office, among others. He also served as the Governor's Authorized Representative for several federally declared disasters in Pennsylvania. Prior to his appointment at PEMA, Director Holl served as Lieutenant/Assistant Chief of Police with the Township of Derry Police Department in Hershey. In that capacity he was Commander of the Administrative and Technical Services Division, which included supervision of radio and technical services, communications, criminal investigation, forensics, community services, accreditation, and records management. Director Holl has previously served as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the Township of Derry, a community that hosts well over 5.5 million visitors each year for various entertainment and business venues. Director Holl currently serves as Chairman of the South-Central Task Force Criminal Justice Subcommittee and was recently appointed to the State's 911 Advisory Board by Governor Wolf as the representative from the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association. His public safety background has spanned over 40 years beginning in the community volunteer fire service and emergency medical services. Director Holl also served as an Emergency Medical Technician and worked as an EMT-Paramedic in central Pennsylvania. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA, a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven, West Haven, CT, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Penn State University. He also serves as an adjunct professor for Penn State University’s World campus. Director Holl is a 2003 Graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, holds numerous certifications in the public safety field, and has been the recipient of several professional awards.

Ruel Kapunan is the founder of Pilipinas911 and HTEC Co. Ltd— Philippine-based companies engaged in the business of providing nationwide 24/7 emergency services, Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) training and disaster response to corporate and government clients. Ruel is also a US-certified Emergency Telecommunicator Instructor, providing emergency dispatch certification to local government units. He also teaches tactical medicine to various units of the Philippine National Police and the military.

Since volunteerism is an integral part of his mission, Ruel and his personnel have deployed to different parts of the country to help in the search and rescue and retrieval operations. In 2017, he volunteered with the DILG to head the Management of the Dead during the Marawi Siege, which saw him going to main battle area in numerous occasions to carry out the tasks assigned to him. In April 2020, he volunteered with the national government’s Covid-19 pandemic response as a member of the Task Group Resource Management and Logistics. He helped formulate the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be used by the Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities operated by the police and military. In February 2022, Ruel became a member of the Eastern Police District (EPD) DMFB Battalion Advisory Council. He also became a volunteer member of his home city’s Rescue Task Force (RTF).

Charles H. Kean is a retired police sergeant from the Springfield (IL) Police Department. During his 21-year career he served as a Patrol Officer, Field Training Officer, Patrol Sergeant, Field Training Sergeant, and Traffic Services Sergeant. Kean was the tactical paramedic for the department's Emergency Response Team (SWAT) and in that capacity he established the TEMS program for the team and served as the primary medical educator for the SPD. Kean helped establish Sangamon County's Narcan response program and served as the SPD's Narcan administrator and educator. The Narcan policy and procedure Kean wrote for the SPD was adopted by all law enforcement agencies in Sangamon County. As the Traffic Services Sergeant Kean was responsible for over 100 planned large events annually including several high profile events of national significance. Kean's Master's closure project/thesis became the basis for the Springfield Police and Fire Department's Rescue Task Force program.

Kean currently works as the paramedic for the Illinois State Capitol complex. He serves as the master instructor for medical programs at the Macon County (IL) Law Enforcement Training Academy and as an EMS instructor at Lincoln Land Community College. Kean holds a Master's in Crisis Management and Emergency Preparedness from the University of Illinois Springfield and a Bachelor's in Organizational Management from Benedictine University at Springfield. His research interests include active threat/mass casualty incidents, Rescue Task Force and integrated response and police providing initial emergency medical care.

Charles E. “Chuck” MacLean, M.B.A., J.D., and Ph.D., serves as tenured Professor and Director of Professional Peace Officer Education and Chair of the Human Subjects Review Board at Metro State University in Minnesota, and teaches Constitutional Law at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His teaching focuses include criminal justice ethics, constitutional criminal procedure, sexual violence, and criminal court systems. Chuck previously taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Ethics, Trial Advocacy, and other courses at ABA-accredited law schools in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Indiana, and taught Police Report Writing for years at the University of Tennessee’s National Forensic Academy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He is author or co-author of multiple books and dozens of scholarly articles on criminal law, law enforcement ethics, and criminal justice.

Prior to teaching full-time, Chuck served for twenty years as a state felony prosecutor specializing on handling murders, child sexual assaults, gang crimes, and other violent crimes. He served for fourteen of those twenty years as the elected prosecutor for his jurisdiction. During that time, Chuck taught POST-qualified courses to licensed peace officers and taught substantive criminal law, evidence, and constitutional law to future peace officers. Chuck regularly serves in multiple volunteer roles, including with the Minnesota State Board of Continuing Legal Education, the Executive Board of the Law and Public Policy Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and as Peer Reviewer or Editor for the Youth Voice Journal, the IPSA Journal, Sage Open, the Multicultural Learning and Teaching Journal, the Journal of Criminal Justice & Law, and multiple publishers, including Routledge/Taylor & Francis, Rowman Publishing, and Kendall-Hunt Publishers. He presents regularly at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, the American Society for Criminology, the Law & Society Association, and the Urban Affairs Association, among others.

Anna McRay is currently the Assistant Director of Emergency Management for New Hanover County, North Carolina where she has served since March 2019. She served as the Deputy Coordinator of Emergency Management with the Henrico County (VA) Division of Fire from 2007 - 2019 and with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management from 2005 – 2007 focusing on emergency shelter management and volunteer coordination. Anna has been certified as a pre-hospital care provider since 1988 and is currently certified as a Paramedic.

Anna has her Bachelor’s Degree in Emergency Services Management (2004) and her Master’s Degree in Disaster Sciences (2009) from the University of Richmond, and is completing her Doctorate of Public Policy Administration with a focus in Emergency Management at Walden University. She has completed the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy (2019) and has completed the National Emergency Management Advanced Academy at the FEMA Emergency Management Institute (2021). She was a charter member of the Central Virginia All-Hazards Incident Management Team (CVAHIMT) and supports North Carolina Emergency Management IMT efforts as a credentialed Type 3 Liaison Officer, Type 3 Planning Section Chief, and Type 3 Public Information Officer.

Bobbie Merica is an award-winning innovator, international speaker, author, and leader in the development of immersive sensory training. Bridging her background in simulation modeling to scientific art, she has developed a training program and certification process for moulage standardization and scenario refinement specific to medical and trauma industries, including first-responders, MCI, CBRNE, military, wilderness, and sports medicine. As the CEO and Founder of Moulage Concepts Inc, she has authored several books, including the international publication "Medical Moulage- How to make your Simulations Come Alive" and "If I have to Grow, It's Good to Know" a community artists coloring book series focused on growth, resilience, and reframing through educational concepts and training: (CAPE) Communities Align for Prioritizing Education.

Mrs. Merica began her career as a Simulation Technologist before accepting a Simulation Consultant/Coordinator position specializing in simulation program development, implementation, and SimCenter design. Upon discovering the absence of Moulage specific to a clinical/hospital setting, she designed and implemented the first of a series of three-dimensional, interactive clinical wounds, training kits, and "all hazard" courses that she teaches around the country; enabling others to "Bridge the Gap" in simulation. With an extensive knowledge of moulage wound development and scenario staging, Bobbie's mission was to identify areas for growth and risk mitigation through a unique combination of simulation development tools and moulage realism. Utilizing both simulator and standardized patients, she works with multi-industry agencies to enhance performance proficiency, adaptive training customization, and hazard identification - CORE techniques she developed and teaches in her "Art & Science of Training Realism" workshops. Additionally, Mrs. Merica’s custom work has been published in over 300 industry scenario-training articles, curated for display (Hands of Catastrophic Change: 9/11 memorial), Innovation Award Winner (2015): Multi-Agency MCI Response Training Kits and Innovative Award Winner (2018): Pediatric hemorrhagic trainers, Homeland Security Exercise & Evaluation Program and TECC Certified.

Dan Metcalfe has been a frontline Paramedic 20 years and received the Exemplary Service award from EW-EMS. Currently serving as the Community Emergency Management Coordinator and Associate Business Continuity Professional/DRIC for 11 years for the County of Essex in Ontario, Canada.

He has been a past board member and president of the Ontario Association of Emergency Managers/OAEM, along with being a member of the International Association of Emergency managers, Ontario branch.

Dan continues to serve on local, provincial and several cross border marine security, healthcare and interoperability in communications projects/committees, which include exercise development, facilitating continued ICS/IMS development, training and implementation.

Sarah O’Brien is the Public Safety Telecommunications Supervisor for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, Communications Center. She has been in the Public Safety field since 2010. This field has fundamentally changed her as a person, everything she currently has in her life, she owes to this field. She has worked all positions throughout the dispatching field from being a dispatcher for a private ambulance dispatcher in 2010 to becoming a cross trained Fire Department and Police Department Dispatcher in 2013. Then she started dispatching for the Sheriff’s office in 2019 and now she is one of them Communications Supervisors and the Tactical Communications Team leader for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.

While the dispatch field is her passion and my carrier outside of work, she is a wife and a mom. She has been married for 9 years and is blessed with four boys ranging from 8 years old to 11 months old. Her family is actively invested in the community and working to raise their boys up to love and respect Law Enforcement and Public Safety. When she is not working, she homeschools her boys and build their farm.

Ryan Perlongo is the Regional Advisor for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) Law Enforcement Strategic Guidance Unit (SGU). This unit provides hands-on strategic counsel to New York State law enforcement agencies focusing on evidence-based policing practices, community trust building, and reform and reinvention collaboratives. Perlongo’s role includes the design of portfolio-specific learning opportunities tailored to local legislation and priorities, fostering peer learning partnerships across agencies, and building the technical capacity of local stakeholders to implement, measure, and sustain strategies.

In addition to his work with the SGU, Perlongo continues to serve as Master Police Instructor for the DCJS, focusing on Problem-Oriented Policing strategies. Perlongo’s 15-year career in sworn service was rooted in developing and administering comprehensive officer training programs at the City and State Universities of New York, retiring as Assistant Chief of Police. Perlongo holds a Master of Science in Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership from the University of San Diego and was recently accepted as a doctoral candidate at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education and Human Development.

Benjamin Phillips is an Emergency Manager for the City of Durham, North Carolina’s Water Management where he is responsible for emergency planning and operations for all water-related emergencies. He is responsible for planning and facilitating exercises that include collaborating with multiple partners including law enforcement, fire, public health, and institutes of higher education. Phillips is also an Incident Command and First Aid CPD instructor. He previously worked as a County Emergency Manager in Montana, as an Emergency Management Assistant for the City of Goodyear, Arizona, and has also worked in law enforcement as a Border Patrol Agent in Southern Arizona. Phillips has a B.S. in Public Safety and Emergency Management and an M.S. In Leadership, Disaster Management, and Fire Leadership. He is currently pursuing an MSc in Risk, Crisis and Resilience Management at the University of Portsmouth.

Phillips is a Lifetime Active Member of the International Public Safety Association and has actively participated in many of our events and programs including serving on our Special Advisory Committee to the Executive Director in 2021.

Riki Rarick has led an impressive career as a Military, Law Enforcement Officer and Terrorism expert in his 40+ years working in the U.S. Military, Homeland Security, and Defense Contracting industries. In 2003, he was recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Defense (Honorable Donald Rumsfeld) for his contributions to the area of Terrorism/Counterterrorism, and served as a personal advisor to his staff in the field. Mr. Rarick has also been featured in several well-known industry publications and radio/tv programs, including; Marine Corps Times, Armed Forces Radio & TV, the Shawn Hannity Show, the Carl DeMaio News Radio 600 KOGO in San Diego, CA, the Victoria Taft Show, and the History/Discovery Channels “Surviving the Cut” program .

Prior to his current role at Apex Park and Recreation District, Rik worked as a Emergency Health & Safety Director at Amazon and Stadler Rail, helping Emergency Management teams/divisions with Environmental, Safety, and Security issues. Before joining the Amazon team, he was Founder/President of both Security and Tactical Solutions and Triton Advisory Group companies from 2009-2018. Additionally Rik had a long and highly successful career in U.S. Military Special Operations/Missions and Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP) with the United States Marine Corps, local law enforcement, and working as a lead instructor for Counter Terrorism and High Risk Operations Training Programs (HROTP) at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, GA. Mr. Rarick is one of the top Anti-Counterterrorism experts in the country, and has played a part over 30 yrs. in taking down many terrorist operations and international drug cartels around the globe working with such foreign agencies/countries as: United Kingdom, Joran, Canada, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Columbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Panama.

Stanley “Stan” Reid is responsible for developing, building and expanding the Emergency Management Systems account for Akima LLC. He has been in private sector business development and project capture of Federal and State government programs for the majority of his career. Prior to this specialty, he worked in the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. He has also worked as a Corporate Lobbyist, and as a Legislative Director for the U.S. Congress. Stan graduated with Honors from the University of California (SB).

Scott Sare currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Johnson County MED-ACT in the greater Kansas City Region overseeing daily operations of the county-wide EMS system. MED-ACT operates up to 25 units daily covering 450 square miles, a population of 650,000 residents, and 56,000 total EMS responses per year. Scott serves as a member of the regional MCI policy group, the department’s policy development group covering hostile event response and recovery, and the County Operations Chiefs Association.

Before joining Johnson County MED-ACT, he spent 18 years in the fire/EMS service in Colorado with the last nearly 15 years at the Aurora Fire Rescue Department. Scott retired while serving as the Deputy Chief of Operations where he oversaw mission readiness, success, and safety of daily operations of more than 360 personnel, 15 stations, and over 50,000 fire and ALS responses per year. Prior to his assignment as the Operations Chief, he was the Deputy Chief of Preparedness overseeing training, health & safety, and emergency management. He also served as the Department’s Training Chief and Co-director of the Rocky Mountain Fire Academy. Scott was the department’s project manager for the design and build of the joint police and fire/EMS public safety training center in Aurora. He developed the policy for Multi-Casualty response for the Fire Department and consulted on the High-Risk Extraction Protocol for active shooter response. Scott was assigned as the department’s representative to review the after-action report recommendations for the 2012 theater shooting and served as a liaison to the police department on collaborative trainings, exercises, and operations.

Scott holds a Master of Business Administration from Grand Canyon University, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Colorado, and a Certificate in Public Safety Leadership from the University of Denver.

David Schuld is a deputy director of preparedness with Hagerty Consulting, an emergency management and homeland security consulting firm supporting clients in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters. As lead for all security, intelligence, and threat management projects for the firm, Schuld leads teams of planners, trainers, and exercise designers in creating tools and activities that support public safety agencies and their partner stakeholders strengthen capabilities used against active threats, acts of terrorism, acts of violence, and other major crimes. Schuld also created and manages the Hunter Seeker Program, Hagerty’s innovative intelligence and information sharing exercises. Prior to working with Hagerty, Schuld served as political advisor to the Head of the British Army Staff in the United States and was Crisis Management Advisor for the British Government in North America.

Schuld holds a Masters in European Politics and Policies from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), graduated from Air Command and Staff College (USAF), and is currently completing a Masters of Science in Covert Investigation and Specialist Intelligence with Liverpool John Moores University (UK).

Dr. Christopher J. Schultz is a scholar practitioner with a diverse background in public service. His experiences include higher education, local government administration, emergency management, and the volunteer fire service. His area of expertise is in leadership and management, organization and administration, and budgeting. Currently, Chris is an Assistant Dean in the Heavin School of Arts, Sciences, and Technology at Thomas Edison State University, and previously served as Assistant Dean and Director, Continuing Studies in the John S. Watson School of Public Service at Thomas Edison.

Chris holds a Doctor of Public Administration from West Chester University (PA), a Master of Science in Public Safety Management from St. Joseph’s University (PA), a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers University at Camden (NJ), and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Stockton State College (NJ). Chris is a member of Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society for the Field of Public Affairs and Administration and the Order of the Sword and Shield Academic and Professional Honor Society dedicated exclusively to homeland security, intelligence, emergency management, cyber and information security, and all protective security disciplines.

Shannon Seibel is a Behavioral Health Counselor, MS, with Sanford Health and Atlas Counseling, and is a former public safety employee. As a Counselor, Shannon currently works with a diverse group of clients in outpatient psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, mobile crisis team, and provides mental health psychoeducation. She has been trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Prior to mental health, she worked for 17 years, in civilian roles with the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force, FBI Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and in direct collaboration with the federal, state, local, and tribal agencies comprised within these entities.

Shannon is currently a PsyD in Clinical Psychology doctoral student at Capella University, holds an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Walden University, and BS in Criminal Justice Leadership and Management, Leadership Certificate, and AAS in Law Enforcement from Rasmussen College. Shannon’s professional passion and motivation revolves around public safety wellness and support. She resides in Northern Minnesota and maintains local and regional connections with first responder agencies, crisis response, community-based services, and criminal justice, legal, health care, and education systems.

Steve Soyka was elected to his position as Sheriff at the Stearns County Sheriff's Office (St. Cloud MN) in November of 2018, taking on the role in January 2019. During his 31+ year career in Law Enforcement, starting in 1991, he has worked at 2 Sheriff's Offices performing several roles within those agencies. He has worked patrol, patrol supervisor, undercover narcotics, bike patrol, field training officer, investigator and medical examiner investigator. He was a SWAT team operator, team leader and commander of a 2 county SWAT team. He also commanded a 17-person multi-agency Violent Offender Task Force for several years and has volunteered numerous years for his agencies Youth Law Enforcement Explorer Program teaching future generations about the public safety profession.

Sheriff Soyka advocates for teamwork within his agency and further pushes a heavy community engagement objective that was lacking within the office before his taking over. When not working, he volunteers his time with his local LIONS club and other causes that benefit the community he lives in. He can be found golfing or boating during Minnesota summers and enjoys working on and driving his collector cars, including a 1967 Ford Sheriff car. Sheriff Soyka looks forward to working with IPSA in promoting the public safety profession and in how we work collaboratively to accomplish goals when needed.

Benny St. John is the President of Critical Integrated Solutions, a company that specializes in emergency preparedness, active assailant, response, training and exercises. Ben has completed his undergraduate degree in Management through the University of Maryland and holds a master’s degree in Emergency and Disaster Management, a certified public manager and is also a FEMA Master Exercise Practitioner. He graduated from Eastern Kentucky University’s Police Administrators Program through the U.S. Air Force. He is a certified Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) Specialist, a certified Security (including schools) Assessment Specialist. He is an adjunct instructor for FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute.

Mr. St. John retired from the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Preparedness and Response, as the Training and Exercise Program Administrator. He was responsible for the development, coordination and approval of state and statewide training and exercises across multiple jurisdictions and disciplines and also served as the Emergency Support Function (ESF) 8, Public Health and Medical Incident Management Team within the State Emergency Operations Center during disasters and emergencies. Ben also served in the United States Air Force and retired after 20 years in 2004. Initially, he was engaged in military law enforcement operations then transitioned, in the second half of his career, into emergency management, ending that chapter as the HQ USAF Emergency Management Training Program Administrator where he collaborated on multi-hazards, to include chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defense and recovery protocols along with making policy decisions for the broader Air Force emergency management community. He has responded to terrorism attacks, large protests, aircraft crashes, disease outbreaks, hurricanes and a variety of other emergency situations across the world. He has been an Incident Commander, Planning Section Chief and Operations Section Chief. Ben is married and lives in Tallahassee, Florida with his two teenagers.

Scott Stoller serves as a chief of police for a small municipality in the upstate of South Carolina. Scott has over thirty years of experience in law enforcement serving in many capacities including uniformed patrol, investigations, traffic, community patrol, training, dignitary protection, canine, EOD, and SWAT.

In addition, Scott is a nationally certified paramedic and a paramedic instructor. He has served as a tactical paramedic, as well as served as a county EMS director. Scott, additionally, is a volunteer firefighter/paramedic in his home community having served in that capacity for over 35 years. Scott also serves as a paramedic with the medical teams for the local, state, and national (USA) Special Olympics. He served on IPSA's RTF committee.

Mark Treglio is currently the Executive Vice President at NEP Services, where he manages the day to day operations of this rapidly growing tech and communications company that serves over 675 police and fire organizations nationwide. Prior to joining NEP, Mark oversaw communications at the International Association of Fire Fighters. He was responsible for many of the union’s innovations and advancements in organizing, disaster relief, and communications, including the Strategic Campaigns program and the IAFF Communications Training Academy. Mark retired from the Jacksonville (FL) Fire & Rescue Department.

Mark hails from a law enforcement family, with his father being a retired NYPD Detective and his brother working in Homeland Security. He has a degree in criminal justice and is working towards a degree in Emergency and Disaster management. He is a die hard New York Yankees fan and a longtime suffering Jacksonville Jaguars fan. Mark and his wife Debi now reside in sunny Henderson Nevada.