James J. Ness, Ph.D is the Founder and President of Ness Worldwide. He recently retired as the Founding Dean of the College of Criminal Justice and Security at the University of Phoenix. Dr. Ness has had a long and successful career in academe and government service. He has been a consultant to many local and state police departments. His previous service included Chief of Specialized Training for the Kosovo Police Service School; Station Chief for the International Police Task Force in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Dean of Academics for the Haitian National Police Training Center in Haiti. Previous professional service includes, Director of Criminal Justice Programs at Barton County Community College; Tenured Professor of Law Enforcement at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Police Chief City of Villa Grove, IL, as well as investigator and undercover narcotics investigator police supervisor and military service. He has conducted national research on Police Executives, School Executives, and Basic Police Training and Police Personnel Practices. He has a BA from Northeastern Illinois University, MS in Law Enforcement from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale He has published extensively in the area of areas of law enforcement and national security.

Ellyn K. Ness, MS MS is the Executive Vice President of Ness Worldwide. She retired as the Chair of the Administration of Justice Program at Mesa Community College and is specialist in Instructor Development, Family/Workplace Violence Issues, Program and Conference Building, “Train the Trainer Approaches”, Collaborative Strategies, and Violence Against Women Topics. She has 20 years’ experience as a Police Officer in Illinois and Kansas, including: Under Cover Narcotics Investigator, Gang Identification and Intervention, Law Enforcement Educator, and Trainer. She was lead instructor for the Domestic Violence Investigative Course for the Royal Malaysian Senior Police Officer’s Academy and Human Rights, and was Commander of the Basic Police Training Academy at Mesa Community College. She has an AS from Triton College, BS in Criminology/Sociology from Northern Illinois University, and an MS in Political Science/Public Administration from Fort Hays State University.

Gerald P. Richard II, Esq., currently is a member of the Department of Justice, Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) Collaborative Reform Initiative Team focusing on the Salinas, California police department. He is also a member of the Bureau of Justice Administration’s VALOR Officer Safety and Wellness Training and Technical Assistance Program. He recently served on the IIR After-Action Assessment Team for Ferguson, Missouri. He retired after serving as Assistant to the Chief of Police of the Phoenix, Arizona, Police Department. He was responsible for overseeing the Phoenix Police Training Academy and the Employment Services Bureau as well as department leadership development and training. He was responsible for implementing recommendations submitted by the Community Engagement and Outreach Task Force and community advisory boards, overall police and community relations, and legislative issues. Previously, Mr. Richard served the Arizona Attorney General’s Office as a Special Policy Advisor for Law Enforcement. His experience includes positive and proactive police/community development, negotiations, and resolutions; passive and large-scaled, highly charged controversial demonstrations; public safety and emergency management; local, regional, and federal planning; corporate communications; intra- and intergovernmental relations; grant oversight; community-oriented crime prevention and intervention services; and other core public services. Gerald is an experienced litigator, arbitrator, and legal advisor for local, state, federal, community, and faith-based organizations. He has extensive experience serving as adjunct faculty/guest lecturer. He is a member or past member of numerous professional associations, boards, and commissions. He is the pastor of Murph Community A.M.E. Church in Phoenix, Arizona.

Steve Castiglioni, DPA currently serves as the Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness for the University of Phoenix. In this capacity he is responsible for the evaluation and improvement of all core institutional processes and to ensure compliance with all applicable standards, law, and regulations. Dr. Castiglioni is the retired Public Safety Commissioner for Warwick, RI, a city in the Providence Metropolitan Area. In his 25 year law enforcement career, he rose through the ranks and was a engaged in several major national and state projects involving criminal justice information systems. These have included the NCIC 2000 Project as a Northeast Regional Working Group as a City Police Representative, resulting in the current Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) and the Rhode Island P.O.S.T. standards and fiscal management task forces. He has lead efforts related to the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) national accreditation, major public safety communications systems, public safety strategic planning, police manpower allocation studies, bond issue and grant management, establishment of content valid police recruit training processes, and major organizational change management. Dr. Castiglioni has provided executive, management, and supervisory level training and consulting to law enforcement agencies since 1999. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Law Enforcement Administration, a Masters of Public Administration, and a Doctor of Public Administration.

John Meza, MS is a proven reformer in police and community engagement strategies with over 30 years of police and executive experience. He recently retired as the Chief of Police of the Mesa Arizona Police Department the 38th largest municipality in the United States, and now serves as the Executive Director of Student Affairs and Safety for the Tempe Union High School District. In addition, Chief Meza currently holds the position of President of the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network and the Co-Chair for the National Tactical Officers Association’s Officer Wellness Committee. He served Mesa PD as a gang detective conducting gang prevention, intervention, and enforcement projects to his recent retirement as the Chief of Police. His leadership was instrumental in the advancements of the Mesa Police Department’s community engagement efforts illustrated by the highly acclaimed “Mesa Police Department in the 21st Century, A Response to the President’s Task Force Report”. He reformed the department by creating the department’s first Community Engagement and Employee Wellness Bureau which focused on the importance of community trust and partnership as well as the interests and wellbeing of department members and was instrumental in the development and implementation of various innovative programs, particularly the Compstat approach to data-driven policing. The Mesa model of Compstat has quickly become a model for other police departments throughout the state of Arizona. The City of Mesa is the 7th safest city in the nation and in 2016 the city saw the lowest crime rate per thousand in recorded history. John Meza has been involved in various service and diversity programs such as Chairperson for the Mesa Police Department Hispanic Community Forum and Liaison to the Mesa Police Department’s Community Engagement and Diversity Team. He proudly served as the 2017 Grand Marshal for the Mesa Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade. Furthermore, Chief Meza is currently the Past Board President for Community Bridges Incorporated a nonprofit organization with a mission to providing comprehensive, medically integrated behavioral health programs. John Meza has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix and a Master’s Degree in Human Relations/Counseling from Northern Arizona University.

Rick R. Ferrell, MS is an experienced policy oversight professional with real-world application. His assignments include: The United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, (Office of Policy and Oversight), Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General (Special Agent), United States Department of the Treasury (Office of the Inspector General (Special Agent). As a retired military officer, Rick also has over 20 years’ experience assisting foreign governments in planning, developing and implementing military/police tactics and training, operational policies, and fusion operations. Rick is considered an expert in conducting complex criminal investigations involving fraud, false claims and statements, bribery, conversion, embezzlement, conflicts of interest, collusion, and kickbacks with a breadth of experience conducting corruption investigations, and other activities affecting departmental programs, contracts, and operations. He has extensive experience conducting program reviews for efficiency and potential fraud and in interpreting and adapting agency guidelines and policies, conducting independent audits, and agency program reviews. He also has extensive experience conducting departmental level program evaluation and compliance reviews. He received the Presidential Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) Award for program integrity, compliance and evaluation efforts. Rick has a Master’s Degree Strategic Intelligence from National Intelligence University, a MS in Public Administration and a MS in Business and Organizational Security Management from Webster University, and a BA from the University of New York Albany.

Will Davis is currently the Director of the Planning, Research and Accreditation Division for the Scottsdale Arizona Police Department. In his career he has been responsible for key areas and initiatives including technology procurement and implementation, crime analysis, policy development, accreditation compliance, research and analysis, Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), strategic planning, and performance measurement and benchmarking. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Kentucky University and the Advanced Certified Law Enforcement Planner (ACLEP) designation from IALEP. He also holds the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and achieved the Process Mapping and Improvement Analyst Certification (PMIAC). He is involved in a program sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) called “Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science” (LEADS). The LEADS program is aimed at advancing data and science in Law Enforcement through personnel development and improving the research an analytical capacity in agencies using evidence-based methodologies. He served as the Vice-President of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) sponsored Law Enforcement Organization of Planning and Research Directors (LEOPRD). Will is a recognized specialist in law enforcement administration and has presented at numerous conferences and workshops. Will has expertise in: strategic planning; process mapping and process improvements using LEAN; accreditation compliance; policy development; performance measurement and benchmarking; technology procurement and implementation; patrol allocation and workload assessment; project management; crime analysis, and administrative reporting.

Mary O’Connor is a 22 year veteran of law enforcement and recently retired as the Assistant Chief of Operations at the Tampa Police Department. She has experience as Patrol Commander, Detective Commander, Field Training Officer, Narcotics Officer, and Economic Crimes Detective. She led the department’s communications section and forensic units. She served as the Commander of the Criminal Intelligence Bureau and participated in the FBI's joint terrorism task force and in participated with members of the United States Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service in supervising large scale tax fraud investigations. This unit also was responsible for investigation of internal criminal employee conduct. During her time as the Patrol Commander in East Tampa, O’Connor built strong community partnerships that the agency still relies on. In April 2015, the DOJ conducted a comprehensive review of the Tampa Police Department’s bicycle enforcement after several news stories implied that there were racial disparities in bike stops officers were making. Mary played a pivotal role in this review process and assisted in the implementation of the recommended changes made by the DOJ. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from the University of South Florida and a Master of Business Administration from St. Leo University. She also serves as a special advisor to the board of NAWLEE, National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives.

Bea Brouillard is an Executive Assistant/Administrative Professional with over 35 years of experience, the last 20 years in law enforcement. She has been responsible for the supervision of administrative support and office management duties in a variety of work environments. Bea retired in October 2016 as the Executive Assistant to the Mesa Police Department Chief of Police. She worked directly for 6 Police Chiefs and 2 Interim Chiefs. She provided highly skilled and confidential independent administrative support and office management responsibilities in furtherance of the Mesa Police Department’s goals and objectives. In support of the Executive Staff (Chief and 3 Assistant Chiefs) and Command Staff comprised of sworn (ten) and civilian equivalent (3) Commanders she coordinated weekly staff meetings, calendars, schedules, travel and special events. Bea also supervised the Administrative Staff in Police Administration/Chief’s office. In her tenure with the Mesa Police Department she held previous assignments in Patrol and the Special Investigations Division. She provided Administrative Support to the Mesa PD Gang Intervention Project, a collaborative effort with local law enforcement agencies, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Adult Probation, Faith-based community and local community members.

9241 E. Grandview St. #3,

Mesa, AZ 85207

Direct Line: (602) 284 9123

jamesness@nessassociates.com