Gribble, Travis
Cooper, Jennifer
Dubois, Wayne
Mental Health Wellness Best Practices: For The Agency & The Team

First responder agencies and teams should have a robust mental health wellness program. This includes a change in culture, critical incident response policies, PEER, established relationships with culturally competent clinicians, crisis plans in place, and bi-annual assessments of program data. Examples of implementation challenges and successes will be discussed in depth. These programs can be implemented by both the agency and/or your teams. This presentation focuses on SWAT implementation as well as agency implementation.

Travis Gribble - Bio
Travis Gribble began his law enforcement career in 1996 in Michigan. He worked for the Ionia County Sheriff's Office until 2008 when he lateraled to Mesa Police Department in Arizona. In both Michigan and Arizona he was a sergeant and SWAT team leader, totaling 7 years in a part-time SWAT capacity and 9 years in a full-time SWAT capacity. He is a firearms instructor and was a lead instructor in Mesa Police Department Basic SWAT school and Hostage Rescue School. He has operated in over 1500 SWAT operations including, hostage rescues, barricaded suspects, search warrants, violent offender apprehensions, and dignitary protection details. He has received advanced degrees from Lansing Community College and Northwestern University School of Police Staff & Command. Currently, he advocates for improving mental health wellness in the first responder professions, by offering training to both the individual and organization.

Jennifer Cooper - Bio
Jennifer Cooper, LPC, NCC, is a former LEO and crisis responder for a local Fire Department in Phoenix, Arizona. Jennifer has worked in social and public services for over 22 years and specializes in treating depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress among first responder and EMS populations. Jennifer has experience working with special ops operators, investigators, and members of command staff in police and fire departments. Jennifer holds a master's degree in Clinical Psychology and a master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, is a Certified Trauma Professional, Nationally Certified Counselor, and Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Arizona. She is also the President/owner of the new non-profit organization, Line of Duty AZ.

Wayne Dubois - Bio
Wayne is the MIRACLE Program Manager for the NTOA. He is a retired administrator with over 27 years of law enforcement experience. During his career he served in patrol, detectives, street crimes, and as an administrator, with additional duties as a SWAT Team and Incident Commander. Wayne served over 25 years on SWAT holding the positions of Team Leader and CNT Cadre Leader. During his career, Wayne has responded to, supervised, or been in command of hundreds of SWAT operations to include high risk warrant service, barricaded suspects, and hostage situations.

Waye is an instructor in numerous SWAT disciplines, instructing both his team and regionally for the Washington State Tactical Officers Association (WSTOA) from 2002 to 2017. During that time, he served as the President and as a lead instructor for the Washington State Tactical Officers Association (WSTOA). He was named SWAT Officer of the Year and Police Officer of the Year and was awarded the Medal of Valor. Wayne instructs in the NTOA's Command Cadre as well as multiple courses under the MIRACLE umbrella. Wayne is a certified emotional intelligence coach, and holds an M.A. in Executive Leadership from Liberty University.

Wayne has had two published articles on SWAT procedures and operations in a the NTOA's national publication, "The Tactical Edge."

Before law enforcement, he served four years on active duty as a ground surveillance systems operator in the U.S. Army, including deployment to Southwest Asia for six months during Operation Desert Shield & Storm.