Officer-Involved
Shootings
Direct line: (239) 571-1840 · GregoryGilbertson@proton.me
Attorney and law-firm inquiries only
A police shooting is decided in seconds and litigated for years. The analysis traces those seconds through the record: what the officer knew, the threat as it actually presented, and whether deadly force was consistent with national standards and the agency's own policy and training.
Three experts. Over 110 years.
Professor Gregory Gilbertson (Ret.), FBI Special Agent Christopher Holland (Ret.), and Sheriff Robert Snaza consult with attorneys nationwide regarding police practices and procedures, use of force, false arrest, police misconduct, criminal, and self-defense casework.
CEO & OwnerThirty-eight years in four uniforms: street cop, soldier, professor, investigator. More than 220 matters in 42 states and D.C. since 2014, with testimony that has not been excluded at trial in any state or federal court.
Full biography
ConsultantMore than thirty-five years in public safety: twelve years and three terms as the elected Sheriff of Lewis County, Washington, and six years a commissioner of the state board that sets peace-officer training standards.
Full profile
ConsultantForty years of investigative casework, from patrolman in St. Louis County to the FBI in Chicago, and on to task forces in Afghanistan and Liberia. His work on the Idaho student murders is examined in Broken Plea, the New York Times bestseller by Christopher Whitcomb.
Full profileNever excluded. Professor Gilbertson’s testimony has not been excluded at trial in any state or federal court.
The Hon. Richard A. Jones United States District Judge“Mr. Gilbertson’s qualifications demonstrate extensive experience in policing. His expansive work as a police officer in Georgia, with assignments as a SWAT team officer, juvenile court investigator, school resource officer, stakeout squad officer, senior patrolman, and patrolman; then a career as a tenured college professor and university lecturer teaching criminal justice courses to degree-seeking students at colleges and universities, and as a licensed private investigator conducting felony pretrial investigations for attorneys in Washington State in dozens of criminal cases, makes him unique in the field of police expert witnesses. The Court finds that, based on his experience, Mr. Gilbertson’s testimony can be expected to have a reliable basis in knowledge and experience of police practices.”
What this covers.
Within this engagement
- Police shootings and deadly-force analysis
- Wrongful-death cases involving police force
- Shooting at or from moving vehicles
- Immediate-threat assessment and severity-of-crime analysis
- Objective reasonableness under Graham v. Connor
- Use-of-force reporting and administrative review of the shooting
Body-worn and dash-camera video, 911 and CAD records, use-of-force reports, witness statements, the involved officer's training and disciplinary history, and agency deadly-force policy, reviewed frame by frame on the totality of the circumstances.
Engagement terms and the published fee schedule: For Retaining Counsel →
Related casework.
The Che Taylor Matter · City of Seattle
Retained December 2019
Report identified substandard practices; counsel credits a $1.5 million settlement.
Jury verdictEstate of Alfontish Cockerham v. City of Chicago
Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois
Police practices and use of force expert in a videotaped officer-involved shooting; $1.18 million jury judgment per retaining counsel.
Case accounts as published by retaining counsel. No result is promised for any other matter.
Working references for this practice area.
Guides for retaining counsel, written from the same record this analysis reads.
“His insights, analysis, reports, and trial testimony are always persuasive.”James Bible, Attorney at Law · Seattle, WA
Before the record is sent.
What makes a police-shooting opinion hold up?
What does retention cost?
Send a shooting record.
Attorney and law-firm inquiries only. Conflicts are checked before anything substantive, and you will hear about a conflict immediately.
Inquiry sent.
You will hear back directly. If the matter is urgent, call (239) 571-1840.
Conflicts are checked before any substantive discussion. Please do not send privileged material with a first inquiry; after retention the record is exchanged on physical media. Gregory consults for attorneys and their staff only, and does not provide legal advice or attorney referrals to individuals.