Intensive Session: Fit for Duty: Physical Health for Officer Safety & Safety through Mental Wellness and Resilience
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SESSION INFO

Sunday, January 26, 2025
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Session Type: Intensive
Sponsored by NAPE: Officers regularly place themselves in harm's way to protect others. Too often, however, they do a poor job of addressing their own well-being. This presentation will use a data-driven approach to identify potential long-term health risks that come from working in law enforcement. This presentation will focus on the physical aspects of officer health and identify purposeful actions that can be taken to attain and maintain optimal health and fitness. This training examines the leading cause of officer death - suicide. This reality emphasizes the importance of officers investing in their mental wellness. During this session, attendees will learn how to take back control of and be responsible for their health and wellness. Mental wellness enhances agency goals, officers’ safety, and officers’ personal satisfaction through ensuring work-life balance.

SESSION PRESENTERS
Don Christman
Training Specialist, Saint Lucie County Sheriff's Office


Lieutenant Don Christman (retired) served 26 years for the Fort Pierce, Florida, Police Department and retired at the rank of lieutenant. During his time of service, he was awarded the Medal of Valor, the Combat Cross, two Life Saving Awards, Officer of the Year, Detective of the Year, and Manager of the Year. As a SWAT team leader, Lieutenant Christman was involved in over 300 high-risk operations, including hostage rescue, barricaded subjects, active shooter events, and high-risk warrant service. He served as supervisor over the Crime Suppression Unit and the United States Marshals Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team. Lieutenant Christman is recognized as an expert witness regarding police use of force, non-escalation/de-escalation tactics, and active shooter response. He is the lead use-of-force instructor at Indian River State College and has instructed all branches of the U.S. military. He has been consulted on several high-profile cases and has testified on numerous occasions regarding these topics. Currently, Lieutenant Christman works as a training specialist for the Saint Lucie County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office and is responsible for maintaining training standards for the department. Lieutenant Christman is a second-degree black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu and specializes in training law enforcement and military personnel throughout the country.