Behind FOCUS is a team of practitioners, researchers, and law enforcement leaders committed to turning behavioral science into something officers can actually use in the field.
Founder & Lead Researcher
Dr. Travis Yates has spent more than three decades inside law enforcement — not consulting from the outside, but working, leading, and training from within. He has seen firsthand what happens when officers encounter violence they were not prepared to recognize. That is why he built FOCUS. What began as Seconds for Survival evolved into a complete behavioral recognition framework grounded in peer-reviewed science and validated through real-world law enforcement application. Travis is the founder of the Tactical Behavior Academy and the Courageous Leadership platform. He is a recognized expert in behavioral threat management, pre-attack indicators, and officer safety. His work has reached thousands of officers and agencies across the country. He does not teach theory. He teaches what works — because the cost of getting it wrong is something no agency, and no family, should have to pay.
Leadership Consultant
Behavioral Threat Management
Expert Witness
Officer Safety
Researcher & Human Performance Specialist
Dr. Lon Bartel brings more than 25 years in law enforcement training and human performance, with a focus on how officers and trainers perform under stress. Recognized by Arizona P.O.S.T. as a subject matter expert in both firearms and defensive tactics, he is an internationally certified IADLEST instructor and innovation award recipient. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Grand Canyon University, a master’s in Applied Exercise Science from Concordia University Chicago, and a bachelor’s in Exercise and Sport Science from Arizona State University. His peer-reviewed research examines how weapon and holster combinations affect officer perception-response times and how officers transition between lethal and less-lethal platforms. A frequent presenter at ILEETA and the Force Science Annual Conference, he integrates physiology and performance psychology to sharpen fast, accurate decision-making for law enforcement and military personnel.
Human Performance
Performance Psychology
Firearms & Defensive Tactics
Peer-Reviewed Research
Researcher & Media Studies Expert
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, documentary filmmaker, and expert in media studies whose research focuses on propaganda, media hoaxes, and deceptive communication techniques. He wrote and directed the documentaries “The Fall of Minneapolis,” “Minnesota v. We the People,” and “Minnesota Mao.” Alongside Dr. Travis Yates, he co-authored “The Phoenix Report,” an analytical rebuttal prepared for the Phoenix Fraternal Order of Police to a pending U.S. Department of Justice consent decree — a report credited with helping bring about the rescinding of that decree and several others nationwide. Dr. Chaix holds a Ph.D. in strategic media, earned with highest distinction, and a master’s degree in English. His work applies semiotics and meta-analysis of communication theory to how information is framed, distorted, and understood.
Media Studies
Propaganda & Disinformation
Documentary Filmmaker
Co-Author, The Phoenix Report
Additional research team members will be announced as the team continues to grow.
The men and women who stand behind FOCUS bring decades of operational law enforcement experience, research, legal practice, and behavioral science to validate and strengthen the framework.
Lecturer, C.I.R. | Use of Force Expert
Sgt. Borden is court certified as an expert in controversial use of force, police performance dynamics, forensic video examination, officer and subject movement dynamics, controversial officer-involved shootings, and attentional issues related to officer-involved critical incidents, police training, policy, procedure, and practice. He currently lectures for C.I.R. and formerly trained and lectured for the Force Science Institute, working with officers nationwide in police performance and the dynamics of force encounters and decision-making as applicable to the law enforcement profession.
Use of Force
Forensic Video
Performance Dynamics
Expert Witness
Decision-Making
Author | Use of Force Expert | SWAT
Kevin R. Davis brings over 39 years of combined experience in security and law enforcement, with a career that spans large concert venue security supervision, federal government security contracting, corrections, patrol, street narcotics investigations, SWAT Team leadership, and lead instructor roles. He has served 25 years as a use of force instructor and is a recognized expert in police tactics, training, and use of force. A published author and firearms instructor for both law enforcement and private citizens, his breadth of operational and instructional experience makes him uniquely qualified to advance the science and practice behind the FOCUS framework.
Use of Force
SWAT
Tactics & Training
Firearms
Author
Use of Force Expert | US Army Veteran
Danny King is a retired officer from a 480-man agency in the Las Vegas area with a career spanning Patrol, K9 Handler (Patrol, Narcotics, SWAT), Problem Solving/Street Crimes Detective, In-Service Training Officer, and Force Investigator. Before returning to patrol in 2018, he specialized in his agency's Use of Force Training and Analysis Unit — conducting investigations into Uses of Force, Excessive Force allegations, Officer Involved Shootings, and Critical Incidents. He trained officers, city leaders, management, attorneys, and citizens in use of force and controversial incidents. Danny is a Master Taser Instructor and a Less Lethal Impact Munitions instructor.
Use of Force
K9 / SWAT
OIS Investigations
Expert Witness
US Army Veteran
Combatives Instructor | BJJ Black Belt | USMC Veteran
Nathan Mendes is a 20-year law enforcement veteran certified through the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) to teach defensive tactics, impact weapons, and chemical agents. A jiu-jitsu black belt, he is a Gracie Survival Tactics (Levels 1 and 2) instructor and owner of Shasta BJJ Club and Mendes Jiu-Jitsu in Northern California. He is also co-founder of the Nationally Recognized Law Enforcement Combatives Course. Nathan served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps, deploying to Ar Ramadi, Iraq, in 2004 with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force — experience that informs every dimension of his approach to officer survival and close-quarters combat training.
Defensive Tactics
BJJ / Combatives
POST Certified
FLETC Certified
USMC Veteran
Supervisor | Instructor | Investigations
Jeff Daukas brings 24 years of law enforcement experience, including the last decade as a supervisor. His career has covered an exceptional range of assignments: patrol, field training officer and field training supervisor, proficiency training, public information, police explorer advisor, special operations as both a protest negotiator and supervisor of that unit, and investigations spanning property crimes, pawn and metals, violent crimes, and homicide — followed by supervision of a property crimes unit. For over 20 years he has instructed law enforcement officers and professional staff in general instructor principles, proficiency training, and arrest tactics, making him one of the most broadly credentialed training professionals serving the FOCUS Advisory Board.
Investigations
Arrest Tactics
Field Training
Special Operations
Instructor Development
Retired Sergeant | Use of Force & Firearms Instructor | Educator
Duane Wolfe retired in February 2014 after more than 25 years as a Minnesota peace officer, a career that began in 1988 and included service as a patrolman, sergeant, S.R.T. member, and use of force and firearms instructor. Alongside his agency work, he spent 28 years as a full-time law enforcement instructor at Alexandria Technical & Community College in Alexandria, Minnesota, shaping new officers before they ever reached the street. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Bemidji State University and a Master’s degree in Education from Southwest State University, and writes for Police1 — a rare blend of patrol, tactical, and classroom experience that strengthens the FOCUS Advisory Board.
Use of Force
Firearms Instruction
S.R.T.
Law Enforcement Education
