Gerard Kendle is a retired Hagerstown MD Police Officer and retired United States Air Force. During his 25 years at the Hagerstown Police Department, he worked many different duties from Patrol, DARE Officer, Community Police Officer, International Crime Free programs manager, community liaison, Citizens on Patrol liaison, Citizens Police Academy coordinator and Excessive Use of City Services program manager. Gerard is an experienced Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) practitioner who has taught and assisted on projects throughput the mid-Atlantic region to include Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. He has courtroom experience in testifying in CPTED related issues and is a court recognized expert in CPTED in the State of Maryland. One of the projects Gerard accomplished before his retirement was to conduct detailed risk assessment surveys in all Elementary, Middle and High schools, public and private, and for numerous Houses of Worship.

Lt. James Perez has worked for the City of Fairfield, CT Police Department for over 28 years. He attended the University of New Haven (CT) and Central Christian College (KS) where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration. He also successfully completed the Connecticut Police Academy and the F.B.I. Law Enforcement Executive Development program. He has held many positions within the agency including a special task force member with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. He has taught the D.A.R.E. program in elementary school and was a member of the S.W.A.T. team for 14 years. Jim has trained law enforcement officers from Canada, Northern Ireland, Australia, Nicaragua, and throughout the United States. His clients include K-12/colleges/universities, municipal, houses of worship, state and federal employees, as well as private industries. Jim as a passion for training and energetic style of teaching make him a well sought-after instructor. His topics of expertise include; active-shooter training, crime prevention and CPTED, racial diversity, de-escalation and compliance communications. He also has a weekly “Crime on the Mind” radio show that is broadcast on WICC am. Jim resides in Fairfield, CT.

Phil Di Blasi is currently the Acting Chief of Police at Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA. During his 26 years in higher education law enforcement, Phil’s duties have included developing and implementing community service programs, overseeing investigations, overseeing professional standards, and organizing and publishing Wellesley College’s annual campus security and fire safety report. He is also the departmental liaison to the Town of Wellesley police and fire departments. Phil has instructed at colleges and universities, professional conferences, and the Massachusetts State Special Police Officer Academy on the topics of the Clery Act, Police and Supervisor Liability, Active Intruder Response, and Police Leadership. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Suffolk University and a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School. He is a member of both the Massachusetts and Federal Bar and is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and in the United States District Court for the First Circuit.

James (Jim) Verdicchio is the Director of Campus Safety for Sarah Lawrence College, a distinguished liberal arts college in Westchester, NY. Jim has over 33 years of combined military, law enforcement and professional security experience, including New York Presbyterian Hospital from 1992 to 2001, and Columbia University from 2001 to 2011. Jim served as Chief of Public Safety at Bronx Community College from 2011 to 2019. Jim earned his Bachelor in Science degree from SUNY Empire State with a concentration in Security Management. He also received his ASIS Certified Protection Professional designation in 2005. Jim is an accomplished trainer and has obtained numerous instructor certifications including NYS DCJS Police General Topics Instructor and NYS DCJS Master Security Guard Instructor. Jim was awarded the prestigious NYPD Chief of Detectives award in 2008. He also completed the FBI-LEEDA Leadership Trilogy program. Jim currently resides in Ulster County, NY.

Anthony Callisto, Jr. is the Senior Vice President for Safety and Chief Law Enforcement Officer for Syracuse University (NY) where he leads all law enforcement, security, fire safety, environmental health, emergency management, risk management, parking and transit services functions at the University. Prior to joining Syracuse University, Tony retired as Chief Deputy for the Onondaga Sheriff’s Office, where he served twenty-five years. Tony is very active in his professional associations and served as president of the following organizations; The American Jail Association, the Central New York Association of Chiefs of Police, the University Hill Public Safety Association and the Food Bank of Central New York. He is police and corrections officer instructor as well as a criminal justice, conflict resolution and labor relations consultant. He often serves as an expert witness for various state and federal court case involving criminal justice matters. Tony holds a BA in Criminal Justice from Columbia College and a MA in Public Administration from Syracuse University. He is also an adjunct professor of Criminal Justice at Columbia College, where he has taught undergraduate and graduate criminal justice course for the past twenty years. Tony resides in Syracuse, NY.

Ronnell A. Higgins is the Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety at Yale University, in New Haven, CT. He has served in progressive leadership roles with the Ivy League institution for more than 20 years and has been the Chief of Police since 2011. His professional work at Yale is complemented by his role with the University of New Haven, where he serves as a Practitioner in Residence, a consultant/advisor in the University’s Center for Advanced Policing, and a professor (subjects in criminal justice and policing).

As Yale University’s Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety, Ronnell has been highly instrumental in significantly reducing crime on campus, attaining a year-over-year decline in crime every year since 2011 (with 1 exception) and reducing UCR crimes to their lowest levels since Yale began reporting in 1985. He has also spearheaded numerous programs supporting excellence in on-campus safety, community policing, and deep collaborations with stakeholders, leaders, and members of both the University and City of New Haven communities while, at the same time, ensuring leading-edge focus on efforts to thwart terrorism, both bad actor/domestic concerns as well as international activities.

In a career spanning more than two decades, Ronnell has developed a reputation for thought leadership in on-campus policing and is recognized as a talented facilitator of greater integration (merging both the urban and the academic). He has advanced the training and professional development of security officers and safety managers, as well as fully integrated and maximized use of public safety systems, leveraging technology throughout campus.

Ronnell’s expertise has been sought in numerous, high-profile scenarios - including consulting in Ferguson, MO, following the 2017 death of Michael Brown and contributing to the assessment of the St. Louis County PD. Active within the community and industry, he was appointed to serve on the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System by Connecticut State Senator Martin Looney and was appointed as a member of the Police Officers Standards and Training Council (POSTC) by former Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy. He is an Executive Fellow with the Police Foundation and serves as an Executive Board Member with My Brothers' Keeper Mentoring Initiative. A past president of the South-Central Connecticut Chiefs of Police, Ronnell also serves on the executive board for the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives for Connecticut (NOBLE). He was recently named among the “Most Influential in Security” by Security magazine.

Over the past few years, Ronnell has augmented his significant professional expertise through his work with the Department of Homeland Security’s graduate education program by completing a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies through an intensive program that included a 2-week California residency once each quarter over the course of four years at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. A graduate of the FBI’s National Academy, Ronnell holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law Enforcement Administration from the University of New Haven and a certificate in Law Enforcement Education from the University of Virginia. Ronnell has also successfully completed the Crisis Leadership in Higher Education seminar at Harvard's Kennedy Graduate School of Education. 

William McHale has been the Director of Public Safety at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA since 2012. Prior to coming to F&M, Major McHale was the Director of the Bureau of Emergency and Special Operations of the Pennsylvania State Police. The Bureau oversees the Aviation Section, Electronic Surveillance Section, Special Emergency Response Teams (SERT), K9 Units, Hazardous Device and Explosives Section, and the Mounted Unit. Bill is a graduate of Ursinus College (Collegeville, PA) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History. He attended the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in 2006, and obtained a Master’s Degree in Administration of Justice through Wilmington University. While at Franklin & Marshall, Bill oversaw the transition to a fully armed Public Safety department. He also initiated a “community policing” model and created several very successful liaison programs with faculty, staff and student groups to enhance campus communications, cooperation and respect. The F&M Department of Public Safety is a fully accredited law enforcement agency in the state of Pennsylvania.

Captain Scott G. VanScoy is currently the Professional Services Division Commander at the California State University, Northridge Department of Police Services, providing public safety services to a community of 40,000 students, 4,500 faculty/staff, and an estimated 1,500 visitors daily. With 28 years of combined university and municipal public safety/policing experience, Scott has managed most programs within the law enforcement field, specializing primarily in law enforcement/public safety accreditation, policies and procedure development, and organizational change management. He has managerial experience in police/emergency operations facility design and construction to include, but not limited to; communication centers, property management facilities, and areas designed for the efficient operation of records, public information, investigations, patrol operations, parking/transportation, and technology functions. During his career, Scott has earned two Chief’s awards, a Sustained Superiority Award for outstanding police work, and an Extraordinary Service Award for saving a child’s life. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology/Criminal Justice from Iowa State University, a master’s degree in Management from the University of Redlands, and has accumulated over 2,000 hours of specialized law enforcement, public safety, and security training. Scott is a proponent of President Obama’s 21^st Century policing pillars focusing on engagement, embracing of change, transparency, and futureproofing collaborative efforts in re-imagining community-involved policing initiatives. He resides in Simi Valley, CA and remains active in the community through participation in coaching rec sports, scouting, and mentoring high school and collegiate students preparing to enter college or the workforce.