Don Kester
Don’s SWAT experience spans the majority of his career. He served as a trainer, SWAT team operator, team leader, team sergeant and SWAT commander. He is certified as a chemical agents, FSDD and less-lethal instructor, as well as a master Taser instructor. He is also a firearms, defensive tactics and use-of-force instructor, and teaches many other specialties such as rapid deployment, warrant service, hostage rescue, TEMS, incident command and leadership. He has authored several articles on such topics. Don has served as a use-of-force consultant/expert on cases in superior and federal court, and he has served on the Law and Legal and Defensive Tactics subject matter expert committees for the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST). He was a delegate to the International Law Enforcement Forum (ILEF) for Minimal Force Options as well as on the Advisory Council for the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLETC) and as a member of the SWAT Technical Support Working Group (TSWG). Don was the Less-Lethal Section Chair for the NTOA from 2001 until 2008, and then served seven years as a member of the NTOA Board of Directors. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Arizona and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
