My guests today are Thor Eells and Don Kester from the National Tactical Officers Association or NTOA which is the largest tactical organization in the United States. Thor is a retired commander from the Colorado Springs Colorado Police Department where he served for 30 years. The majority of which was in tactical response including serving as a swat operator, a swat team leader and a team commander. Thor is currently the Executive Director for NTOA after serving many years as a board member and a trainer. Don is retired from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona where he served as a SWAT team operator, team leader, team sergeant, training director and SWAT team commander eventually retiring as a Division
Commander and Captain. Don is currently the training and education director for the NTOA after many years of service as a trainer and a board member.
Timestamps
02:00 – Thor’s background and law enforcement career
05:00 – Don’s background and law enforcement career
11:00 – The mission of the National Tactical Officers Association
15:30 – The relationship between state associations and the NTOA
20:30 – Police reform movements & the role of the NTOA as information provider
37:00 – National standards for special tactics teams
46:00 – Maintaining training standards with diverse team capabilities
55:00 – The NTOAs role in supporting teams with subject matter expertise
1:00:00 – The need to honest self-examination and debriefing
1:05:00 – The roots of bad legislation and need for law enforcement to oppose it
1:11:00 – No knock warrants, dynamic entries, and the NTOAs position paper
1:32:00 – The counter arguments for dynamic tactics and no-knock warrants
1:34:00 – Risk management and safety priorities
Contact Info
Thor Eells - teells@ntoa.org
Don Kester - dkester@ntoa.org
Links
NTOA | National Tactical Officers Association
The Debrief with Jon Becker