Instructors
Scott Savage
Scott is the founder and CEO of Savage Training Group. In 2023 he retired with 24 years of experience as an officer and sergeant in Northern California. His previous assignments include SWAT, Team Leader on a Crisis Negotiation Team, and full-time assignment to a terrorism/intelligence task force.
John Morris
Instructor John Morris recently retired as a Lieutenant from the Winston-Salem Police Department, an agency of 500 officers located in North Carolina. His 27 years of service include over 20 years in SWAT as well as years in Patrol and Special Operations.
Dominic Gamboa
Senior Instructor Dominic Gamboa is a 28-year law enforcement veteran. He was an officer with the San Francisco Police Department for many years and is now a Sergeant with the Broadmoor Police Department (CA). Sure, he has the street experience to tell you what works and what doesn’t, but he’s also an expert-level instructor. Instead of “Death by Power Point”, Dom is known for captivating students and keeping them engaged.
Dan Flippo
Senior Instructor Dan Flippo retired as the Deputy Chief from the Santa Cruz (CA) Police Department. He has decades of experience in SWAT and Patrol and is the lead instructor for our critical incident response courses. Dan is also the Operations Manager for the Savage Training Group.
Eddie Chan
Senior Instructor Eddie Chan is a current sergeant with the San Jose Police Department in California. Eddie has over 30 years of experience and spent over 14 years as a supervisor in the FTO Program. Eddie has participated in the training of hundreds of trainees and FTOs. Dozens of Eddie’s past recruits and FTOs went on to become Sergeants and command officers. He oversees all of Savage Training Group’s FTO training programs.
Donald Anderson
Senior Instructor Donald Anderson is a current Lieutenant with San Francisco PD where he serves as the Officer in Charge of the Hostage/Crisis Negotiation Team and the Crisis Intervention Team. He has years of experience in patrol as well as supervising the 40-officer crisis negotiation team. He is a passionate and engaging instructor who is committed to sharing real-world experience with our students.
James Tacchini
Senior Instructor James Tacchini is a Lieutenant with the San Francisco Police Department. He is a Team Leader on the department’s 40-member Crisis/Hostage Negotiation Team. He previously served as a full-time Officer Involved Shooting investigator and is presently a Patrol Sergeant.
David Bautista
Senior Instructor David Bautista is a Lieutenant with the San Diego Police Department in California. He has over 29 years of experience including working in the Patrol and the Department Training Division and over 13 years of SWAT experience as an operator, sniper, and team leader.
Paul Grattan, Jr.
Paul recently retired from the New York City Police Department where he served for 21 years. Paul spent years as a Digital Communication Officer where he crafted messages for command staff members and the department’s social media accounts. That experience gave him the expertise to now help students build their own public messaging, use social media in a strategic way, and learn how to proactively communicate during a crisis.
Marlon Marrache
Senior Instructor Marlon Marrache is a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department who recently retired at the rank of Sergeant. He has 12 years of full time experience conducting internal affairs investigations. He is also the host of Internal Affairs: A Police Podcast
Joe Preciado
Senior Instructor Joe Preciado is a Sergeant with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and graduate of basic and advanced Science-Based Interviewing training courses. Joe’s detective experience includes General Felony investigator, Major Crimes Investigator working Sexual Assault and Child Crimes, and assignment to LAPD’S Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Max Garces
Proactivity and solving complex cases – those two factors have remained constant no matter what assignment Instructor Max Garces has held over the last 30 years. As a lead instructor for our Science-Based Interviewing course, now Max helps our students develop their own skills.
Kristy Dorton
Kristy Dorton is a Public Safety Dispatcher II and Communications Training Officer (CTO) for the Sacramento Police Department in California where she has served since 2005. She has been recognized with several awards, and has been twice awarded Dispatcher of the Year in 2015 and 2024.
Kyle Cardin
Instructor Kyle Cardin is the Training Sergeant with Santa Clara Police Department (CA). He previously served with the San Jose Police Department (CA) where his assignments included being a member of the full time SWAT Team (known as M.E.R.G.E.), Field Training Officer, and Academy Instructor.
Garrett Slonicker
Garrett is a current Field Training Officer with the San Jose Police Department. Garret has been a police officer since 2013 and his previous assignments include the Undercover Narcotics Enforcement Unit and being an academy instructor.
Brian Bixler
Captain Brian Bixler retired from the Los Angeles Police Department after 27 years of service. Brian was the Captain in charge of the Metropolitan Division which included overseeing LAPD’s SWAT team, K9s, and several other specialty platoons.