TEXAS MUNICIPAL COURTS EDUCATION CENTER FACULTY ROSTER Bailiffs & Warrant Officers Conference May 17 19, 2015 Austin Erwin Almonte Sales Director Snap Trends, Inc. 8601 RR 2222, Building II, Suite 150 Austin, TX 78730 512.716.8422 ealmonte@snaptrends.com Barbara Bouleware-Wells City Attorney, City of Holland McKamie Kruger & Knight, LLP 223 W. Anderson Lane, Suite A-105 Austin, TX 78752 512.323.5778 bbw@cityattorneytexas.com Angela Downes Associate Municipal Court Judge City of Glenn Heights 214.662.4442 angelaadkinsdownes@yahoo.com Bryan Flatt Lead Instructor Texas Municipal Police Association 6200 La Calma Drive #200 Austin, TX 78752 bryan.flatt@tmpa.org Marco Hanson Owner Austin Certified Translation, LLC Austin, TX 78754 512.992.5467 hanson@austincertified.com Randy Harris Constable PCT 4 Tom Green County 112 W. Beauregard Ave. San Angelo, TX 76903 325.659.6408 randy.harris@co.tom-green.tx.us Scott Linnborn Sergeant, Professional Standards Division Cedar Park Police Department 911 Quest Parkway Cedar Park, TX 78613 512.260.4788 scott.linnborn@cedarparktexas.gov Mike McKenna Sergeant Ellis County Sheriff's Office Waxahachie, TX 76165 972.825.4948 mike.mckenna@co.ellis.tx.us Regan Metteauer Program Attorney TMCEC 2210 Hancock Drive Austin, TX 78756 512.320.8274 (o) metteauer@tmcec.com Evan Ratcliff Officer Round Rock Police Department 2701 N Mays St, Round Rock, TX 78665 512.218.5500 eratcliff@roundrocktexas.gov Christopher Schaefer Research Specialist I, Joint Crime Information Center, Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division Texas Department of Public Safety 512.424.5096 Christopher.Schaefer@dps.texas.gov Jeff Schaefer Explosives Detection K9 Handler Pflugerville ISD Police Department jschaefer@pflugervilletx.gov Ryan Schaefer Lead Paramedic Marble Falls ryan.schaefer.79@gmail.com John Sierega Director of Field Services Texas Municipal Police Association 512.579.7930 john.sierega@tmpa.org Ryan Kellus Turner General Counsel and Director of Education TMCEC 2210 Hancock Drive Austin, TX 78756 512.320.8274 rturner@tmcec.com Stanley Vick Senior Police Officer Crisis Intervention Team Austin Police Department 715 E. 8th Street Austin, TX 78701 512.854.3480 stanley.vick@austintexas.gov Mark Warren Training Specialist Consultant Texas Association of Counties P.O. Box 2131 Austin, TX 78768 512.478.8753 JMarkW@county.org Kathy Weishuhn Special Investigato Program Director, Region 07 South Department of Family Protective Services 1340 Airport Commerce Drive, Ste 525 Austin, TX 78741 512.369.7088 kathy.weishuhn@dfps.state.tx.us
2210 Hancock Drive, Austin, Texas 78756 512.320.8274 800.252.3718 fax 512.435.6118 FACULTY BIOGRAPHIES ERWIN ALMONTE Erwin Almonte is a Sales Director and is responsible for the deployment of SnapTrends, Inc. within the field of Law Enforcement. He has been a part of SnapTrends since its early inception and has worked with numerous Federal/State and Local Law Enforcement agencies to leverage location-based social insight. He has been a guest speaker at numerous industry functions providing insights on how to leverage this segment of the virtual world. BARBARA BOULEWARE-WELLS Barbara Bouleware-Wells is a city attorney for the City of Holland and is an attorney with McKamie Kruger & Knight, LLP in Austin. ANGELA DOWNES Angela Downes is an attorney concerned with the most vulnerable persons in the population. Her work focuses on public service, policy and legislative efforts to protect the public trust. She provides training, policy expertise and technical assistance to non-profit agencies on interpersonal violence issues of child abuse, child protection, domestic violence, human trafficking, elder abuse and also serves as a subject matter expert on interpersonal violence issues. Ms. Downes is the Associate Municipal Judge for the City of Glenn Heights, Texas. In 2008, Ms. Downes was appointed by the governor to serve on Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists and was re-appointed in 2013. The Board is the regulatory and licensing agency for psychologists in the state. In 2005, Ms. Downes was admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court. She served as a member of the Texas Violent Gang Taskforce from 2001-2004. A Dallas Bar Association Fellow, Angela is a graduate of Mercer University and Texas A&M School of Law formerly Texas Wesleyan School of Law where she was named Distinguished Alumni. BRYAN FLATT Bryan Flatt has been the lead instructor for Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA) since May 2014. He has over 24 years of Texas law enforcement experience. Mr. Flatt holds a TCOLE Master Peace Officer license and is a TCOLE Instructor. Mr. Flatt was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas and began his career in 1990 and left full-time law enforcement in 2014 when he moved to the Austin area. Mr. Flatt s law enforcement experience includes county jailer, patrol officer (both county & municipal), FTO, patrol corporal, patrol sergeant, CID sergeant, SWAT, defensive tactics instructor and emergency police driving instructor. In 2008, he spent almost 4 months in Afghanistan serving as a civilian police advisor at a training site located in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Mr. Flatt was a part-time instructor at the Panhandle Regional Law Enforcement Academy at Amarillo College for almost 12 years where he instructed a variety of classes which included: fitness & wellness, professional policing, professionalism & ethics, use
of force, arrest / search & seizure, mechanics of arrest, emergency police driving, and patrol procedures. Mr. Flatt now gets to travel the great State of Texas instructing law enforcement officers. MARCO HANSON Marco Hanson is a licensed court interpreter and founder of Austin Certified Translation. Prior to returning to the private sector, Mr. Hanson was the manager of the Texas Remote Interpreter Project at the Office of Court Administration. He is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Languages and the University of Texas - Pan American with a Masters in Spanish. Mr. Hanson has interpreted and translated professionally since 2000, working in Spanish, French, and Portuguese. He is also the owner of Austin Certified Translation, LLC, and teaches college Spanish, ESL and translation courses. A native of Brownsville, Texas, he is married with four children. RANDY HARRIS Mr. Harris has over thirty years of service to the public as a law enforcement professional. He has gained a vast knowledge of law enforcement functions while serving for six different agencies. Mr. Harris fulfilled his duties as Chief Law Enforcement Officer in four of these agencies. Mr. Harris specializes in court security with over 20 years experience at the federal and local levels. He holds Master Peace Officer, Instructor, and Crime Prevention Inspector certifications from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. Mr. Harris has taught court security classes across the state of Texas to judges, law enforcement officers, and court staff. SCOTT LINNBORN Scott Linnborn is the Sergeant of the Professional Standards Division of Cedar Park Police Department. MIKE MCKENNA Sergeant Mike McKenna supervises the training division for the Ellis County Sheriff s Office. Sergeant McKenna is also acting Emergency Coordinator with prior experience in Emergency Management. He has over 15 years of law enforcement experience, including SWAT. EVAN RATCLIFF Officer Evan Ratcliff has been employed by the Round Rock Police Department since 2008. During that time, he has served as a patrol officer, field training officer, intelligence officer and is an active member of the department's SWAT team. Officer Ratcliff investigates high-level fugitive investigations, and leads the department with his skills in Open Source Intelligence. He also proposed, developed and now manages the Automatic License Plate Recognition program for Round Rock Police, and is actively involved in the furtherance of ALPR throughout the state. Prior to his current employment, Officer Ratcliff was a Reserve Deputy Sheriff with the Lubbock County Sheriff's Office, as well as a paramedic with Lubbock EMS. Officer Ratcliff received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, which is his home town. CHRISTOPHER SCHAEFER Christopher Schaefer has been an intelligence and crime analyst for a combined 15 years, serving in the U.S. Army and working for the Texas Department of Public Safety. He spent 10 years on active duty with the U.S. Army as an intelligence analyst, working at both the tactical and strategic levels, ending his
service as a Sergeant First Class (E-7). As a senior noncommissioned officer in deployments to Bosnia and Iraq he was responsible for leading 20 intelligence analysts while acting as the targeting officer and intelligence liaison responsible for coordinating intelligence and operations with various agencies. During his service earned the Bronze Star Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (x2), and Army Achievement Medal (x3). He was hired by the Intelligence & Counterterrorism Division of the Department of Public Safety and immediately had an impact with his experience in multiple military exercises, real world deployments in both peacekeeping and combat missions, and extensive experience in writing analytical products. Mr. Schaefer received a Bachelor s of Science in Liberal Studies degree with a major in History and a minor in English from Excelsior College. He earned a Master s of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Sul Ross State University and Masters of Arts degrees in History and Political Science from American Military University. He has taught courses in Criminal Justice, Homeland Security, and Government with universities and colleges for several years. JEFF SCHAEFER Jeff Schaefer graduated from Arizona State University in 1995 with a Bachelors of Science in Justice Studies. He continued his education at the University of Texas with two additional years of upper level mathematics and teacher preparation courses. Officer Schaefer earned a Texas teaching certificate and taught several levels of mathematics for three different districts over 13 years. He changed careers and entered law enforcement in 2010 as part of the patrol division of Pflugerville Police Department. Officer Schaefer then joined the Pflugerville ISD Police Department where he serves as a school resource officer; within his first year he became the department s explosive detection canine handler. Utilizing his background in martial arts and education, Officer Schaefer is the department s defensive tactics instructor teaching Pressure Point Control Tactics and Disruptive Student Management. He teaches numerous other courses including hobble restraint use, incident command, incident response to terrorist bombings, and mobile video for law enforcement officers to name a few. RYAN SCHAEFER Ryan Schaefer is a Tactical SWAT Paramedic in Marble Falls and a Marine. JOHN G. SIEREGA Mr. Sierega is the Director of Field Services with the Texas Municipal Police Association. The Director of Field Services Division manages and supervises six full time and four part time field representatives and one administrative assistant. Prior to his current position, he was a police officer with the Inglewood Police Department for over 15 years, where he held positions including training officer, patrol sergeant, narcotics investigator, and traffic sergeant. He also served as the Director of the Inglewood Police Management Association from 2001-2004 and the Director of the Inglewood Police Officer s Association from 1998-2000. Mr. Sierega completed 47 units from Santa Monica City College with a major in Administration of Justice and approximately 20 additional units from various California community colleges earned through in-service police training, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff s Academy, Investigator s school, and Supervisor s school. RYAN KELLUS TURNER Ryan Kellus Turner is General Counsel and Director of Education for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. Prior to joining the Center in 1999, he served as Briefing Attorney for Judge Sharon Keller at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Turner obtained his juris doctorate from Southern
Methodist University School of Law. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with highest honors from St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, where he now teaches as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences. In 2004 and 2013 he was the recipient of the School s Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award and a finalist for the University Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award in 2014. Mr. Turner is currently Deputy City Attorney for the City of Dripping Springs and has served as a Special Assistant County Attorney for Kendall County. In 2011, he was an advisory member on the Texas Judicial Council s Juvenile Justice Committee. In 2012, Mr. Turner was named Co-Chair of the Texas Judicial Council Legislative Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice. A native Texan, Mr. Turner was raised in the north Texas town of Vernon. He is the co-author of the books Lone Star Justice: A Comprehensive Overview of the Texas Criminal Justice System and The Municipal Judges Book. STANLEY VICK Stan Vick is a Senior Police Officer with the Austin Police Department. Officer Vick has been with the Austin Police Department since 2005. After graduating from the police academy, he was assigned to the South Central area of command. Officer Vick has been a Crisis Intervention Officer since 2008. After working with the mentally ill as a patrol Officer for six years, Officer Vick was assigned to the Austin Police Crisis Intervention Team Unit (CIT Unit). The CIT Unit is responsible for training all APD Officers with the required TCOLE crisis intervention material and topics related to mental illness. MARK WARREN Mark Warren is the Training Specialist and Consultant with the Texas Association of Counties in his hometown of Austin, Texas. He assists the Association with the vision, development and delivery of training for both the internal and external customers of Texas county government. Just since 2007, Mark has traveled more than 85,000 miles across Texas and the United States delivering a training message of inspiration, motivation and new direction. His presentations revolve around leadership, interpersonal communication and relationship skills, workplace diversity and professionalism, bridging the generations and customer service excellence. In addition to his teaching, training and traveling duties, Mark works with the TAC Leadership Program and has served as the coordinator of its Leadership training since 2003 and County Best Practices since 2009. After graduating from St. Edward s University in 1977, Mark spent 23 years with the Texas Department of Public Safety, retiring in 2000 as the Assistant Commander of the Training Academy in Austin. KATHY WEISHUHN Ms. Weishuhn is currently the Special Investigator Program Director for Child Protective Services (CPS), Region 07 South, covering eight counties, including Travis and Williamson. She has been with CPS for 8.5 years, serving as a Special Investigator and Investigations Supervisor prior to holding her current position. Prior to CPS, Ms. Weishuhn was employed with Fayette County for nearly 25 years, the last 12.5 of those with the Fayette County Sheriff's Office. She served as a Patrol Deputy and Patrol Sergeant. She also
supervised communications and worked investigations while serving as a Deputy Sheriff. Ms. Weishuhn has a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Texas Arlington. Ms. Weishuhn currently is an elected City Council Member in La Grange, serving her 7th two-year term. She is also the chair of the La Grange Main Street Board.