Firearms Consultants: 8

AGR Police Practice Group provides robust professional Policing Services to a mix of criminal justice entities and communities. AGR counsels and collaborates with organization leadership on risk management strategies, setting the highest Law Enforcement Performance Standards. They have the proven professional law enforcement experience.to achieve case-specific goals. 

Consulting Services:

• Organizational Assessments - Policy Model Review & Future Impact

Create sound and robust policies and practices for police leadership to advance a department’s ability to deliver the highest quality services to the community. AGR has experience with single – agency police implementation and reviewing national police organization model policies. 

• High-Risk Investigations - Independent Monitoring. Oversight. Auditing

Has a crisis, such as a police shooting or police misconduct, resulted in the loss of community trust and placed the agency on the defensive? AGR has broad experience in assisting agencies in complex and sensitive investigations.

• Auditing and Inspections - Enhance Accountability, Reduce Liability, Improve Compliance

Ensuring your police agency is doing what they say they are doing, by providing auditing and inspection services.

Chief Chet Epperson, (Ret.), MBA, principal of AGR, is a law enforcement veteran with over 40 years of active service. He served with the Rockford Illinois Police Department for 33 years and the last 10 years as chief. Chief Epperson serves as an expert with two Federal Police Consent Decree Monitoring Teams with special emphasis on use of force, police shootings, training, and policy oversight.

View Chief Epperson's Expert Witness Profile.

Steven Howard provides a wide range of Consulting and Expert Witness Services to the legal professional in an ample variety of Firearms, Ammunition, Knives, Blades, Explosive Devices and many other related subjects. His Primary Area of Experience is Gunsmithing and Certified Police Armorer. Mr. Howard has a college degree in Gunsmithing and is a licensed attorney in the state of Michigan. He is a former Federal Agent with the U.S. Border Patrol and a former Federal Police Officer with the Department of Defense. He has 50 years of Gunsmithing experience and is a Certified Police Armorer.

Services Include:

• All Standard Firearms
• Firearms & Ammunition Failures
• Accidental Discharges
• Almost all Machine Guns
• Silencers
• Testing
• Shooting Scene Reconstruction
• Crime Scene Reconstruction
• Knives
• Explosive Devices
• Assistance in Trial Preparation
• Firearms Identification
• Gunshot Residue Interpretation & Cross Contamination

Francis T. "Jay" Jarvis has over 35 years of experience as a Forensic Scientist, specializing in Forensic Ballistics and Firearms Analysis. Mr. Jarvis has extensive experience in crime laboratory accreditation, having served as an accreditation assessor and as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB), including one year as the Board Chair. 

Consulting Services - Mr. Jarvis offers Crime Lab Assistance services, providing short term backlog reduction on a contractual basis. Due to his extensive experience with laboratory accreditation, he can also provide interim assessments and independent re-analysis of past casework as part of a corrective action following non-conforming testing or when proficiency test results do not meet the expected result. Testing can be performed at his own facility or on-site utilizing client laboratory protocols. 

Mr. Jarvis has been invited to speak at seminars and training sessions around the country on topics related to forensic science. Mr. Jarvis has an avid interest in the history of forensic science. After conducting exhaustive research into the history and development of forensic science in the state of Georgia, Mr. Jarvis published his first book titled Georgia's Crime Doctor - The Story of Herman Jones and the First 20 Years of the Georgia Crime Laboratory. The book details the life of Dr. Herman Jones and his quest to establish a delivery system for forensic services and improve death investigation in Georgia. 

View Jay Jarvis' Expert Witness Profile.

Brian L. Landers has 20 years of Law Enforcement experience, as well as over 25 years in Law Enforcement Training and Education, including experience as a police and jail academy director and a full-time criminal justice professor.

Mr. Landers holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration, a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice, and is pursuing his PhD in Forensic Psychology at Walden University. He also holds multiple certifications as a Master Trainer for law enforcement topics and use of force. 

 Mr. Landers frequently serves as a media consultant on police and criminal justice issues for ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox News affiliates. He was elected to three terms on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors (WI) and three terms as Mayor of the City of Wisconsin Dells. His trusted knowledge and experience have been recognized by those he has served in all capacities, and his expansive background has propelled him to be an incredibly reliable, trustworthy, and confident consultant.

A full-time educator and trainer, Mr. Landers' services include:

Consulting - Performance and Personnel Evaluations

Research - Use of Force Concepts, Training Guidance, and Policy Revisions

Training - Use of Force Concepts, Policy Training, and Training Curriculum Services

View Brian L. Landers' Expert Witness Profile.

Firearms Operability Examination

Microscopic Analysis of Ballistic Evidence

Shooting Incident Reconstruction

Laser Trajectory Analysis of Bullet Paths

Gunshot Residue Distance Determination

Operability and Microscopic Report Review and Evaluation

Trial Preparation and Presentation

Expert Witness Testimony

Witness Interviews and Witness Statement Evaluation

Roy G. Taylor is a current Chief of Police with over 40 years of experience in a wide-range of federal, state, local, and private criminal justice positions. He delivers comprehensive and intelligent Law Enforcement and Security Services to federal, state, and local governments, and is authorized to work on private or government properties including parks, any government owned buildings, land, public housing communities, hospitals, schools, or similar areas. 

Dr. Taylor's experience and expertise includes use of force and firearms instruction; recruiting, selection and assignment; employee supervision, evaluation and retention; curriculum development; policies and procedures design and implementation; canine utilization; budgeting; public relations; and emergency management. 

Current Positions:

• Chief of Police Blue Ridge Public Safety (2014)
• President/CEO Signal 88 Security of Charlotte (2012)
• President/CEO Capitol Special Patrol (2012)
• Chief of Police Capitol Special Police (2002)
• LT. Colonel – Provost Marshal, Army National Guard (2000)
• Antiterrorism / Emergency Management Branch Chief DoD (2007)
• Provost Marshal Joint Civil Support Task Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff (2014)

Specific Services:

View Roy Taylor's Expert Witness Profile.

Emanuel Kapelsohn is an internationally recognized Firearms Training and Use of Force consultant who has instructed thousands of police and security officers, federal agents and others throughout the U.S. and abroad since 1980. He currently serves as a consultant to

• Manufacturers of Firearms and related products regarding design, human factors, safety and training issues; product literature including warnings and owner's manuals; development of user, instructor and armorer training programs, materials and training aids; marketing issues; and risk management
• Cities, States, and Governmental Entities regarding development, review and implementation of use of force policies, law enforcement training programs and issues, response to critical incidents, and risk management
• Law Enforcement and Security Agencies regarding selection of firearms and related equipment; design and implementation of training programs; safety surveys and safety protocols; qualification standards; development and review of written departmental firearms and use of force policies; and evaluation of specific use of force incidents and firearms accidents

A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, Mr. Kapelsohn is a practicing attorney in addition to his consulting work. As vice president of the Internat’l Assoc. of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, he is a certified in force science and shooting scene reconstruction, and as an instructor in numerous law enforcement disciplines. 

Mr. Kapelsohn is a featured presenter at national and international instructor conferences. He has authored over 130 published articles, is Associate Editor of "Standards & Practices Guide for Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors," and principal author of "Firearms Training Standards for Law Enforcement Personnel," and "Guidelines for Simulation Training Safety."

View Emanuel Kapelsohn's Expert Witness Profile.

TRIDENT INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE, INC., founded in 1991, provides Professional Investigative, Detection Canine, and Security Consulting Services for law firm, insurance company, and corporate clients offering the following services: 

• Threat and Vulnerability Assessments
• Physical Security Consulting
• Executive and Personal Protection
• Targeted Violence Risk Management, High-Risk Employee Terminations, Stalking Investigations
• Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM)
• Pre and Post-Employment Screening, Background Research, Protective Intelligence, and Asset Recovery
• Intellectual Property, Corporate, and Legal Investigations
• Covert Photographic and Video Surveillance
• Technical Security and Countermeasures
• Contraband Detection Utilizing Canines
• Handgun, Shotgun, Patrol Carbine, Scoped Rifle, TASER, Restraint, and Less-lethal Instructor

Founder, Michael J. Canaan, CPP CFLC is a Forensic Security Management Expert Witness with over 40 years of experience in Military and Civil Law Enforcement, Corporate and Private Investigation professions. He has conducted investigative, security risk and threat assessment services throughout North America, to include Alaska and Canada, as well as, several countries in Central and South America for individuals and corporations in residences, educational settings, on corporate campuses, and large venue events. 

Since 1991, Mr. Canaan has served as President of Trident Investigative Service, Inc. 

He is a former Washington Certified Police Officer and Narcotics Detector Dog Handler. Mr. Canaan is a certified instructor in related disciplines and maintains active membership in numerous professional associations. 

Mr. Canaan has a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from Washington State University.

View Michael Canaan's Expert Witness Profile.