School Safety Expert Witness

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

I serve as a Senior Analyst for Safe Havens International, a nonprofit school safety organization, and have conducted assessments in 21 states and across more than 400 schools. I am also the sole proprietor of School Safety Shield, L.L.C., a school safety consulting firm. Throughout my 29 years of service in education, I have held a variety of roles, including teacher, school administrator, coach, athletic director, transportation director, and school safety director. I have presented at the local, state, and national levels and co-authored the book "Staying Alive: How to Act Fast and Survive Deadly Encounters." Barron's Educational Series published this book on May 1, 2014. I was a contributing author for Extreme Violence: Understanding & Protecting People from Active Assailants, Hate Crimes, & Terrorist Attacks. Cognella Academic Publishing published this college textbook in 2021. I serve as the lead expert in school transportation assessments for Safe Havens International. I've evaluated the transportation departments of large school districts, such as Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, FL; Richmond Public Schools in Richmond, VA; and Bend-La Pine School District in Bend, OR, as well as smaller district fleets. In 2015, I helped the Maine Department of Education update its standards for the National Congress on School Transportation. I assisted in the research and development of curricula for the White House's School Safety Initiative, resulting in FEMA's IS-360: Preparing for Mass Casualty Incidents: A Guide for Schools, Higher Education, and Houses of Worship. I have served as a subject matter expert on tornado preparedness for the American Clearinghouse on Educational Facilities. I have authored several magazine articles for Campus Safety Magazine, School Planning and Management Magazine, and School Transportation News. I have served as an expert witness in school safety litigation in Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. I performed an off-site assessment of a private school in Nairobi, Kenya, listed by the U.S. State Department as the number one target for terrorism in Kenya. I also assisted with off-site, state-wide assessments for the Maine and South Dakota Departments of Education. I participated in a comprehensive review of the 2013 Arapahoe High School shooting for the Littleton Public Schools Board of Education. I attended the FBI Citizens' Academy through the FBI Field Office in Indianapolis and received basic certification in the Active Shooter Doctrine from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. I have received law enforcement training through the Public Agency Training Council on school safety topics, adult and child interrogation, bomb threat response, cyber predators and online child pornography, and drug recognition. I have also completed numerous FEMA courses through the Emergency Management Institute's online platform and hold a basic certification as a gang specialist through the National Gang Crime Research Center in Chicago.