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Major Andy Casavant retired from the Walton County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office in 2019. He served as the coordinator for the continuous improvement unit, which uses the Toyota manufacturing concept of LEAN for its continuous improvement efforts.

Chief Anthony Powalie is a 20-year veteran with the Painesville Police Department. During his career, he has been assigned to the county’s Bomb Squad and SWAT Team. Powalie has also been a Field Training Officer and Field Training Supervisor, and supervised his department’s street crimes unit. Powalie developed, trained and served as team commander of the Eastern Lake County Multi-Jurisdictional Entry Team. Prior to joining Painesville PD, Powalie worked for seven years as a Corrections Officer with the Sheriff’s Office, two years with the Grand River P.D. and 1 year with the Mentor on the Lake P.D. Powalie’s passion is writing articles and public speaking.

Sgt. Evert started his career in 1999 at Pelican Bay Super Max in Crescent City, Calif., then transferred in late 2000 to High Desert Calif. state prison where he worked until returning to Pelican Bay as a Sergeant in 2006, where he is currently. Sgt. Evert has 10 years experience in dealing with both street and prison gangs. His book, “Scars and Bars” is due out anytime, and is dedicated to helping new Officers efficiently survive their first two years on the job, both on the job and at home. To Sgt. Evert, correctional officer safety is paramount, and is the core of what he writes and teaches.

My column is undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. I’ve been writing for the Street Survival “Newsline” and the P1 Newsletter for several years. As a Street Survival seminar instructor, I write about officer safety and survival, but I’m also a supervisor, a mom, a trainer, a cop’s wife, and dare I say, a woman, so I’ve got a lot to say about any number of topics (what woman doesn’t?!), and I’ve always received great feedback from our readers. So when Police One approached me and asked me to author a monthly column dealing with women’s issues, I enthusiastically agreed. “What a great opportunity” I naively thought “to bring issues to light that both women and men in law enforcement could all relate to, perhaps discuss at roll call, and ultimately learn something from each other.” Yeah, just call me Sergeant Pollyanna…I forgot that by calling it a “women’s” column, not only will most of our male readers skip over it, but so will at least half our female readers. What?! Why in the world wouldn’t women read a “women’s” column?! Because, there are a lot of female crimefighters out there like me who have spent a lot of years just trying to blend in, to be “one of the guys” if you will…to be perceived as and conduct ourselves as “warriors,” not “victims.” We don’t want special treatment; we just want to be cops.

Sgt. Bill Campbell began his law enforcement career as a U.S. Marine Military Policeman in 1986. After six years of active duty service as a patrolling MP stationed in Yuma, AZ. and Okinawa, Japan, Bill received an honorable discharge and went to work for the Gilbert AZ. Police Department. Bill has served Gilbert Police Department since as a Patrolman, Bike Officer, Academy Training Officer, Proficiency Instructor and Patrol Sergeant. Bill has served with the department’s SWAT team since 1995 as an Entry Operator, Precision Marksman, Trainer and currently serves as the Entry Team Leader. Bill was recognized as an AZPOST Subject Matter Expert in Firearms training in 1999 and about that same time, the National Rifle Association recruited Bill to serve as a Staff Firearms Instructor for the NRA Law Enforcement Activities Division.

Bill’s column, “Bringing the Street to the Range” is an extension of his efforts with the NRA to seek the practical principles involved in daily police tasks and to create specific firearms training to help officers win in that environment. Police work is a complicated environment with ever changing tactics, tools and liabilities.

“We cannot bring the sterile, comfortable environment of the “training range” to the harsh, unpredictable environment of the “street.” We must instead find ways to bring the street to the range.”

Brian Dickey is a second generation Deputy Sheriff with a large California Sheriff’s Office. Brian started working in 1986 and has worked a wide variety of assignments including Custody Operations, Criminal Investigations, Patrol, D.A.R.E. and his current position of Rangemaster/Armorer, a position he’s held since 1999. Since receiving his first Firearms Instructor certification from the National Rifle Association in 1993, Brian has sought to improve and challenge those entering the arena of Law Enforcement training. Brian prides himself in integrating current trends, events, Department policies and case law into the courses he designs. Brian is a certified instructor for the Basic POST Academy as well as STC certified for Custody courses. He also holds instructor-level certifications for the extensive skill sets required of the modern Peace Officer as well as Armorer certifications in the various firearms and less lethal devices used by his and area agencies.

Brian has received commendations for his positive impact on Law Enforcement training by the California State Legislature, United States House of Representatives, State and local organizations. Nominated for the California Governor’s Award for Excellence in Peace Officer Training in 2006, Brian has also been honored to have one of his classes profiled by California POST in their “Best Practices” online resource. Brian has also authored several published articles profiling progressive weapons qualification courses for his Department.

Contact Brian Dickey

Jeff McGill has 25 years of law enforcement experience. He has an earned doctoral degree with research that focused on the perceptions of mental health and suicide amongst law enforcement recruits. Jeff is a co-founder of Blue H.E.L.P., a national nonprofit that works to reduce the stigma of mental health issues in law enforcement. He now works full time as the Director of Public Safety Training at Northwest Florida State College overseeing training for law enforcement, corrections, dispatchers, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and firefighters.

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Girard William “Jerry” Bradshaw is the CEO and Training Director for Tarheel Canine Training, Inc. of Sanford, North Carolina. Jerry is a professional consultant to various Police agencies and private corporations for K9 training & deployment. Jerry is often featured speaker at Police K9 conferences and has been invited to instruct at workshops and seminars around the country. Jerry has written articles for Dog Sport Magazine and Police K9 Magazine, and is the author of the forthcoming book Controlled Aggression in Theory & Practice, which is available for purchase here.

Jodi Butts has been a law enforcement officer since 1998. She is currently assigned to patrol duties, having completed an assignment as an instructor at her agency’s basic academy. Jodi is a certified firearms instructor and is also certified to instruct emergency driving techniques to include vehicle immobilization devices and the Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT). Jodi served as a Military Police Officer in the U.S. Army. She earned a Master’s Degree in Justice Administration/Public Administration.

Contact Jodi Butts

Senior Officer Joel Lashley is a Crisis Management and Defensive Tactics Instructor, who has worked as a public safety professional for over 25 years, including 18 years of service in the healthcare setting. Joel leads the training program for hospital, clinical, and social outreach staff in clinical violence management, at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, the only level-one pediatric trauma center in the region, serving critically injured and ill patients throughout the mid-west. Joel is a trainer, program developer, and consultant on forensic patients, behavioral restraint, and special needs clients and subjects. He has trained nursing, clinical, social work, psychiatric, education, law enforcement and other public safety professionals, in the management of clients in crisis and those with cognitive disabilities. He has consulted to healthcare systems, school districts, police departments, and crisis management companies. He is a certified instructor for Interventions for Patients with Challenging Behaviors®, Principles of Subject Control (POSC®), and Tactical Communications (Verbal Judo®). Joel has developed models for the management of forensic patients or ‘patient prisoners’ in the clinical setting. He also co-developed a program for managing the challenging behaviors of children, adolescents, and adults with autism and other cognitive disabilities for police officers, corrections officers, and healthcare providers. The fact that his son has autism has made him concerned about how this segment of our population is managed in the educational, medical, and law enforcement arenas. Future articles deal with this and other issues facing our medical and mental health facilities, as we search for ways to best protect, serve, and when necessary, maintain the safe custody of these special populations.