Leaders & Legends - National Issues in Special Tactics - The NTOA Perspective – Thor Eells & Don Kester

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