Leaders & Legends - National Issues in Special Tactics - The NTOA Perspective – Thor Eells & Don Kester
Leaders & Legends - National Issues in Special Tactics - The NTOA Perspective – Thor Eells & Don Kester  
Podcast: The Debrief with Jon Becker
Published On: Wed May 03 2023
Description: 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 DivisionCommander 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.Timestamps02:00 – Thor’s background and law enforcement career05:00 – Don’s background and law enforcement career11:00 – The mission of the National Tactical Officers Association15:30 – The relationship between state associations and the NTOA20:30 – Police reform movements & the role of the NTOA as information provider37:00 – National standards for special tactics teams46:00 – Maintaining training standards with diverse team capabilities55:00 – The NTOAs role in supporting teams with subject matter expertise1:00:00 – The need to honest self-examination and debriefing1:05:00 – The roots of bad legislation and need for law enforcement to oppose it1:11:00 – No knock warrants, dynamic entries, and the NTOAs position paper1:32:00 – The counter arguments for dynamic tactics and no-knock warrants1:34:00 – Risk management and safety prioritiesContact InfoThor Eells - teells@ntoa.orgDon Kester - dkester@ntoa.orgLinksNTOA | National Tactical Officers Association