Jim Schnabl

Certified Force Science Analyst, James Schnabl, M.P.A. is co-owner and instructor for Human Performance Training and Consulting.  Jim has over 33 years of law enforcement experience.  He served as Deputy Chief for the Santa Ana Police Department commanding the Administration and Support Bureau including the Department’s Training Division.  His previous command experience includes Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.), Field Operations and Investigations.  Additionally, he was the Commander of Orange County’s multiagency HIDTA task force, the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program (RNSP). As an officer, detective and sergeant, Jim has held positions in Directed Patrol, Field Training, S.W.A.T., Narcotics and Crimes Against Persons (CAP). During his ten years as a narcotics investigator, Jim worked for six years undercover and flew surveillance aircraft for an additional 4 years, logging over 1,800 flight hours.  

Jim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne and a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy and Administration from California State University, Long Beach. He is a graduate of the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute (SLI Class 209), the California Peace Officers Standards in Training (P.O.S.T.) Command College (Class 49) and the FBI National Academy (Class 254).  Jim’s Command College article, Reinventing the Police Report for the 21st Century: Are Video Police Reports the Answer? was published in Police Chief Magazine (September 2012).

Doug McGeachy, DPA

Certified Force Science Analyst Douglas McGeachy, D.P.A. is co-owner and instructor for Human Performance Training and Consulting.  He is a 31-year veteran of law enforcement, currently serving as a Lieutenant with the Bonner County (ID) Sheriff’s Office where he commands the Marine Division.  He previously served as a police officer for over 26 years beginning with the Fontana (CA) Police Department before transferring to the Santa Ana (CA) Police Department, where he retired in October 2018 at the rank of Deputy Chief.  During his career, Doug worked Patrol, Gangs, Traffic, Professional Standards, Personnel, and SWAT.   He has command level experience in Patrol, Training, Traffic, Information Technology, and SWAT.  As a Deputy Chief, Doug commanded all three sworn Bureaus of the Santa Ana Police Department to include Field Operations, Investigations, and Administration and Support.

 Doug is currently on the Board of Directors for the California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO).  He serves as CATO’s Director of Training where he manages the planning, delivery, and development of all training programs.  He is also an instructor for the CATO SWAT Commander Course.

 Doug is a recipient of the Santa Ana Police Department’s Medal of Valor and Purple Heart as well as the Award of Valor from the California Peace Officers Association.  In addition to his work with Human Performance Training and Consulting, Doug also holds adjunct teaching positions at California Baptist University and the Golden West College SWAT Academy.  He previously held an adjunct teaching position at Moreno Valley College where he provided classroom and practical application instruction at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Academy.

 Doug graduated from California Baptist University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Administration and from the University of La Verne with a Master of Public Administration.  Doug was also awarded a Doctor of Public Administration from the University of La Verne.  His dissertation, titled Managing Risk in Local Law Enforcement: Leadership Perspectives on Policy, Training, Performance, and Communication, focused on law enforcement risk management efforts at the operational level and was recognized with the 2017 Outstanding Dissertation Award for the College of Business and Public Management. 

 Before his law enforcement career, Doug served as a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps for six years.  He also has seven years of experience as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) with the Riverside County Fire Department and volunteered as an EMT on the base ambulance at Camp Pendleton.

James Dickey

James Dickey, B.S   James is a Certified Force Science Analyst and instructor with Human Performance Training and Consulting.  Jim has over 22 years of law enforcement experience previously working for a large police department in Los Angeles County and currently working for a sheriff’s department in Southern California.  He has been assigned to all three major levels of training and instruction of peace officers to include an assignment as a member of the Training and Coordination Team (TACT Staff) at a large regional academy in Southern California where he acclimated private citizens into their role as a peace officer recruits, a Field Training Officer (FTO) training freshly graduated recruits on patrol functions, and as an Instructor in Advanced Officer Training (AOT) training tenured peace officers in the areas of FTO School, death investigations, use of force investigations, officer involved shootings, laws of arrest, and court testimony.  James holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from San Diego State University, has been a California POST certified instructor since 2009, and is currently employed as an adjunct instructor at Riverside Community College in Riverside CA.  He is a POST certified firearms instructor, physical training instructor, and an academy scenario manager.

James has been a criminal investigator for the past 14 years investigating crimes such as child abuse, sexual assault, bank robbery, kidnapping, homicide, and use of force investigations.  He has been the primary investigator assigned to over 50+ cases involving homicide, officer/deputy involved shootings, use of force with great bodily injury, assault under the color of authority, peace officer suicides, in-custody deaths, and the murder and attempted murder of on-duty peace officers.  He has assisted on over 200+ investigations involving the same crimes.  James has been assigned to his department’s active homicide team, cold case homicide team, and was a founding member of his departments Force Investigation Detail in 2019; a taskforce model team which was a first in the State of California to exist and include members of a state agency.  He presented this force investigations taskforce model at a major force investigations conference in the State of Florida in 2022.  James has also lectured at conferences for the California Deputy District Attorneys Association, the California Gang Investigators Association, and the Riverside County Gang Investigators Association. 

 James is a member of the California Homicide Investigators Association, the International Homicide Investigators Association, his department’s promotional board, and is the Secretary/Trustee for his sheriff’s association legal defense trust representing over 3,000 members.  He has also been designated as a member of his sheriff’s association’s contract negotiation team securing labor contracts.

 James started his department’s undercover operations program related to homicides and is recognized as a leading expert in this area training other agencies in the state.  He is also recognized for his expertise in recent California legislation (AB 392 and AB 1506) which has substantially changed how force encounters are investigated and evaluated by district attorneys in the State of California.