Law Enforcement PD Instructor Bio's Insight strategies llc in partnership with Central arizona college
Heather Lappin
Heather Lappin has 18-years of experience with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Tucson, Arizona. She is currently assigned as the Training Section Commander and oversees all training for commissioned personnel to include firearms, academy, and advanced officer training. Prior to this position, she was assigned to Arizona Peace Officer and Standards Training Board as an Advanced Training Specialist. Prior to the AZPOST assignment, she was the district commander in the San Xavier district and the Green Valley District. Early in her career, her focus was in training and she was an AZPOST Subject Matter Expert in the Field Training Program which included travel throughout Arizona to train Field Training Officers. Additionally, she maintains instructor level for all proficiencies in law enforcement to include Firearms, Defensive Tactics, High Risk Stops. While a deputy, she worked patrol in busy districts and eventually earned a spot on the Special Response Team.
Heather has been fortunate to attend several reputable leadership schools throughout the nation. Most recently she attended Senior Management Institute for Police, Department of Homeland Security’s Leadership Academy, Northwest School of Police Staff and Command, and Transform Leadership held at the University of Kentucky. Heather’s formal education includes an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from University of Phoenix, a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Arizona State University, and she is currently working on her Master’s Degree from ASU in Public Safety Leadership and Administration. She was appointed to the Tucson Women’s Commission in 2021. Heather has three teenagers and has held numerous leadership positions in Booster Clubs, Parent Teacher Organizations, and youth sports.
Bootsie Martinez
Bootsie (Liz) Martinez R. was an investigator for the State of New York, tackling index crimes as well as other legal matters. She conducted open and undercover investigations in New York City, and cooperated with law enforcement nationwide, as well as internationally, to bring perpetrators to justice. Her areas of expertise include forensic linguistics as applied to criminal investigations and threat assessments; organized retail crime; security training; and report writing. During her two decades training law enforcement and security to write tight, "pick-proof" reports designed to secure convictions, she has hammered into practitioners the adage that "if it's not in the report, it didn't happen." She teaches the art of meticulously producing reports that are clear, concise, rebar-tough, and built on a solid foundation to withstand scrutiny.
She is a published author of fiction and non-fiction books, as well as hundreds of articles in the U.S. and international press about law enforcement, security, forensic linguistics and report writing. She earned a bachelor's in criminal justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York), a master's in writing from Seton Hill University, and a master's in criminal justice with a concentration in forensic linguistics from California University of Pennsylvania. She is currently completing her PhD in linguistics at Arizona State University. She is a college criminal justice program director.
Zlatan Mamela
Zlatan (“Zee”) Mamela is a college professor, an executive administrator, and a criminal justice professional with over twenty-five years of diverse experience in human resources, management, recruiting, strategic planning, and project management. His career has encompassed criminal investigations and intelligence, court operations, background investigations, federal task forces, corrections, and security.
He has taught for over a decade at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as at the sheriff's training academy. After completing his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, Mamela earned a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. Throughout his career, he has received accolades from numerous organizations for his outstanding leadership in creating a vibrant culture.
SA Doug Hansen (ret)
For 22 years, Doug was a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His career included 19 years in the Relief Supervisory program and temporary duty assignments at the 2012 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT, the Legal Attaché office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the Public Access Center Unit (PACU) at FBI HQ.
After retiring from the FBI, Doug was a Senior Law Enforcement Professional in Iraq directing criminal investigations for the U.S. Marine Corps and a Senior Law Enforcement Advisor and consultant to the Iraqi National Information and Investigation Agency (NIIA, the Iraqi version of the FBI). Subsequently Doug was the supervisor for a group of subject matter experts assigned to the NIIA Training Institute where he oversaw the integration of a sustained process to effectively train a 10,000 plus agency in the development of a comprehensive program in law, public safety, crime scene, court, and investigations.
Upon leaving Iraq, Doug opened his own consulting company where he instructed and advised national and international agencies in human behavior and Situational Awareness Risk Assessments and subsequently established and instructed the dual enrollment college credit Law & Public Safety program at Walden Grove High School in Sahuarita, Arizona and an Adjunct Professor at Pima Community College in the Administration of Justice program.
Doug is a member of Society of Former FBI Agents, the FBI Agents Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, as well as being the past President of the Northern Arizona Police Association, and a 1992 recipient of the Presidential Point of Light Award for volunteerism.
Marla Fletcher
Marla was a police officer with the Tucson Police Department for 31 years. She served in a uniform assignment for 7 years and as a detective for 24 years. She served as a POST certified training instructor and as such, was responsible for training both recruits and advanced officers in the area of criminal investigation. During her tenure as a detective, she gained expertise in the areas of domestic violence, aggravated assault and homicide, sexual assault, and white-collar crime. Professor Fletcher was assigned to the schools as a school resource officer. She was involved in programs that brought opportunities to those children from the lower income areas of Tucson.
Marla has taught undergraduate courses in criminal justice for ten years at Pima Community College. Additionally, she has been on the faculty at the University of Phoenix for 12 years where she has taught courses in criminal justice.
Judge Steven Teske
Steven is a native Tucsonan. He is a licensed attorney who practiced law as a trial attorney for several years before being appointed to the juvenile court bench in 1999. Since 2010, Steven has been sitting each month on the superior court bench handling civil and criminal matters, including bench and jury trials. He has served as the chief presiding judge of the juvenile court since 2011, responsible for all administrative matters, personnel, and a budget exceeding $4 million dollars.
He has upper-level managerial experience having served as a chief parole officer in Atlanta as well as assistant director of field services for a State Board of Pardons and Paroles. Steven is a certified public manager whose master’s degree in political science is concentrated in public law and administration. He has enjoyed an illustrious career as a jurist and has accomplished several innovative practices and programs that have received evidence-based status.
Steven has a law degree and a master’s of arts degree in political science. He holds certificates as a peace officer, a certified POST instructor, and a certified public manager. He has published widely on the topic of juvenile justice reform and has appeared before Congress four times as an expert witness on topics of juvenile justice.
Jourdain Richter
Jourdain is seasoned leader within the Arizona Department of Corrections. He recently retired as an Associate Deputy Warden overseeing operations at condemned row. He is currently serving as a parole officer within the Tucson area and is a popular Criminal Justice instructor at Pima Community College.
Jourdain’s leadership experiences began with his frontline supervisor assignment over 18 correctional officers and as an academy sergeant for 13 recruit classes. As a Lieutenant, Jourdain led a staff of three sergeants and forty correctional officers and also conducted training at the Correctional Officer Training Academy. He transitioned to the positions of case manager and then to unit manager. Jourdain completed fifteen years with the Tactical Support Unit, rising through the ranks of squad leader, platoon leader, and assistant commander. Jourdain served as a judicial officer for felony cases brought against inmates and as a Situation Unit Leader and Planning Chief within the Incident Command System.
Academically, Jourdain has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Masters in Legal Studies and in Critical Incident Management. Currently, he is working on his Doctoral degree in criminal justice. He has taught college-level courses in ethics, criminal law, criminology, restorative justice, and contemporary issues in criminal justice. Operationally, Jourdain has taught defensive tactics, firearms, taser, and motivational interviewing.
Danny Sharp
Daniel G. Sharp served as Chief of Police for the Town of Oro Valley from January 2000 until his retirement in February 2020. Prior to his appointment as Chief in Oro Valley, Chief Sharp spent over 21 years with the Tucson Police Department, working in virtually every area of the department. Chief Sharp served as Oro Valley’s Interim Town Manager, from June 2016 to September 2017.
Chief Sharp has served as an adjunct faculty member for Law Enforcement Programs at Pima Community College and as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Arizona. He was routinely Invited to lecture on public policy related to Community Policing and Ethics.
Chief Sharp holds a Masters in Educational Leadership and is a graduate of the 190th Session of the FBI National Academy.
In 2014, he was awarded the J. Stannard Baker Award for ‘outstanding lifetime contributions to highway safety’, and was the 2013 Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce Legacy Award recipient. He also received the 2021 Kevin E. Quinlan Award for Excellence in Traffic Safety.
He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police where he served on the Highway Safety Committee for fifteen years and chaired the Committee for his last 5 years. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Oro Valley Hospital. Sharp currently serves on the Law Enforcement Executives Advisory Committee for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) National Board.
During his tenure at Oro Valley, Sharp chaired the Pima County Wireless Integrated Network (PCWIN) Executive Management Committee which was responsible for the architecture, procurement, logistics and governance of the countywide radio system. Once operational, Sharp was the Chair of the Board of Directors for two 2-year terms. He was a founding member of Pima Regional SWAT and EOD and served on its Board of Directors. Also, he was appointed to the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission by three different Governors and served as Chair for two years. He served on the Arizona Automobile Theft Authority for nearly twenty years and was chair or vice-chair for most of that time.
Larry Starks
Larry began his career in 1988 working with at-risk youth at a youth group home. In 1991, he began working as a case manager with the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. He moved up the ranks over the next twenty-one years with positions as Unit Supervisor, Parole Officer, Parole Supervisor, and Community Service Administrator; retiring in 2012 as the Parole Administrator for the State of Arizona.
Upon retiring, Larry embarked on a new career in education as a Drop-out Prevention Liaison with Santa Cruz Valley High School in Eloy, AZ. Currently, he works as a Transition Specialist with the Court Alternative Program of Education (CAPE) schools to the Pima County Juvenile Detention Center and the Pima County Adult Detention Center. He is also an adjunct instructor for the Pima Community College Administration of Justice Studies (AJS) program.
Mr. Starks is involved in many community and civic organizations.
Larry attended Arizona State University on an academic scholarship. He completed two Bachelor’s degrees, one in child development and the other in criminal justice. Later, he completed a Master’s degree in Business/Public Administration. He is a native Arizonan, born in Phoenix but raised in Tucson. He was a student at Tucson Unified School district, graduating from Pueblo High school in 1983. While in high school he participated in football, basketball, wrestling and track.
Mark Ziska
Mark is the President MDZ HR, Inc, specializing in strategic leadership, strategic talent management, and performance management. He is the author, along with Police Chief Ramon Batista, of “Do No Harm: 5 Steps to Align Police Actions with Community Values”.
Mark is a recognized human resource leader. He was the Senior Human Resource Director (VP) with Raytheon, the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of advanced missiles, sensors and directed energy systems with over 12, 000 employees. He served as the Interim Vice-Chancellor of Human Resources at Pima Community College, a multi-campus college system with over 2,500 employees.
In addition to strategic management consulting, Mark is currently a neutral FMCS arbitrator and Chief Strategist for the University of Arizona, Global MD, an international partnership addressing health care for indigenous, rural and underserved communities.
Mark earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Industrial Psychology. He is certified in arbitration, change management, inclusive talent acquisition, business strategy, and strategic leadership.