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Haywood Irving has been with the Fresno (California) Police Department for 23 years and is currently a detective. He worked patrol for the first eight years of his career, three of them as a Field Training Officer. He was assigned to a District Crime Suppression Team for six and has been a detective for the past nine years where he has worked robberies, property crimes, hate crimes and crimes against persons. He has received numerous commendations, including the Medal of Valor Under Mortal danger for leading an ad hoc rescue team of officers who responded to two officers that had been shot while under fire from the suspect. He served in the United States Air Force for six years achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant.

Chris Piombo worked for the Lodi (California) Police Department for 25 years retiring as a captain. He was a member of the department’s SWAT team for 20 years including nine years as the team commander. He is an instructor at the San Joaquin Delta College Peace Officer Academy, varsity baseball coach and marathon runner.

Harry Fitzpatrick has served as a police officer in an urban police department for 15 years. He is currently assigned to a SWAT/sniper unit.

Steve Strull is a retired California Highway Patrol (CHP) captain with over 33 years of law enforcement experience. He served as the CHP’s Operations Commander for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade and Football Game in Pasadena with post 9/11 security issues from 2011 through 2016.

Throughout his career, he investigated and directed uniformed personnel in some of the most sensitive investigations the CHP has responsibility for. He has over 24 years of experience as a line investigator, supervisor and team leader on the officer-involved shooting team.

He also served as the unified command representative for the CHP at critical incidents occurring throughout Los Angeles County. He additionally served as the CHP Southern Division Protective Services Incident Command Representative for high-threat VIP motorcade movements occurring in Los Angeles County involving the President of the United States and visiting foreign heads of state.

Brandon Griffith is the founder and CEO of Griffith Blue Heart, a 501.c(3) nonprofit that specializes in preparing, training and equipping law enforcement for time-sensitive medical emergencies, like cardiac arrest, emergency hemorrhage control, overdoses, drownings, etc. Brandon is a leading expert on police resuscitation, a sheriff’s deputy for Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona, a multi-disciplined instructor, a former EMT, and an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest survivor.

Ed Wojcicki has served as the executive director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police since November 2014. His focus has been on professional development, legislative advocacy, raising the association’s visibility and promoting law enforcement’s goal to make communities safe. He has also taken a leading role with ILACP’s Ten Shared Principles initiative.

Prior to joining the association, he was chief of staff to the chancellor at the University of Illinois at Springfield and publisher of Illinois Issues magazine. He has a master’s degree in political studies from UIS and a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

He can be reached at ed@ilchiefs.org.

Lois James is the assistant director of research in the Washington State University College of Nursing, where she focuses on bias, stress, sleep and performance in high-stress populations such as police officers, military personnel, nurses and top-tier athletes. She has received multiple honors and awards for her work, and is internationally recognized as a leading expert in her field. Dr. James’ simulation-based research on the impact of bias on police decision-making has significantly advanced what is known about what influences police officers during critical encounters with the public. She is the founding director of Counter Bias Training Simulation (CBTsim), an innovative simulation-based implicit bias training program that has been featured in National Geographic and a 2018 feature-length documentary.

Dr. James holds a doctorate degree and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Washington State University and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

Steve Peeler was a police officer for 31 years with a municipal police department in Los Angeles County where held a variety of positions and assignments. He retired as an assistant chief of police in 2006. He has worked for the past 15 years for Lexipol as the director of customer service and training director. He currently works with the Editorial Services Team.

Joseph J. Kolb, MA, is the executive director for the Southwest Gang Information Center, master instructor for the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy and instructor in the Criminal Justice program at Western New Mexico University. He is also the mail officer for the Santa Fe (NM) County Adult Detention Facility.