SWAT & High-Risk
Operations
Direct line: (239) 571-1840 · GregoryGilbertson@proton.me
Attorney and law-firm inquiries only
A tactical operation is won or lost on the planning that preceded it. The analysis starts well before the door: the intelligence the team actually had, the threat assessment and risk matrix that justified a tactical response, the operational plan and briefing, and whether the force used during the entry matched what the plan and national standards contemplated.
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.
Full biography
ConsultantMore than thirty-five years in public safety: Sheriff of Lewis County, Washington, since his election in 2015, and six years as 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 profileThe 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
- SWAT and tactical-team deployment decisions
- High-risk warrant service and operational planning
- Threat assessment and risk-matrix justification
- Operations briefings, assignments and contingency planning
- Dynamic entry, containment and callout alternatives
- Force applied during tactical operations
- Command decisions and on-scene supervision of the operation
The operational plan and briefing materials, the threat assessment and any risk matrix, warrant paperwork and the intelligence it rested on, entry and body-worn video, after-action and use-of-force reports, team training records, and the agency's tactical policies, measured against generally accepted tactical standards on the totality of the circumstances. Operations run by a federal agency, or by a task force working under federal deputation, add federal directives and records to that list, as set out under federal agency cases.
Engagement terms and the published fee schedule: For Retaining Counsel →
Working references for this practice area.
Guides for retaining counsel, written from the same record this analysis reads.
“Professor Gilbertson has twice served as my expert in search and seizure and false arrest cases. His analysis and opinions are always spot on.”Darryl Parker, Attorney at Law · Seattle, WA
Before the record is sent.
Is a SWAT case about the entry or the planning?
What does retention cost?
Send a tactical-operation 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.