George Williams
George T. Williams is a Police Training Specialist, and the Director of Training for CUTTING EDGE TRAINING, LLC, in Bellingham, Washington. He has been a trainer of police overall since 1981, and a full-time trainer since 1987.
He is responsible for the development and presentation of unique and varied training programs to SWAT, patrol, K9, and Police Administrators, as well as certifying instructors in Defensive Tactics, impact weapons, and shooting. His experience in training law enforcement ranges from police academies, through municipal and county agencies to the state and federal government level. A SWAT tactics and weapons trainer, he has been a consultant to several dozen teams in the Western United States over two decades. As a Police Training Specialist, he has personally trained officers from all 50 States and several U.S. Territories, as well officers from 14 foreign countries. Mr. Williams is a California P.O.S.T.-certified Police Master Instructor.
Background
Mr. Williams (a 5th dan, Master Instructor in Tang Soo Do, 2nd dan in Kuk Sool Hapki, with additional training in Aikido, Escrima, and Tae Kwon Do) began training peace officers and federal agents as a martial arts school owner. He developed a revolutionary system of police defense that is simple, non-technical, outcome-based, and free of complicated martial arts techniques. It remains the only system that is effective for small or average officers who are not martial artists (Effective Combatives Problem-Solving: Defensive Tactics) while also increasing the abilities of those who are more highly skilled than average. He also created a unique program of firearms instruction that finally brings a realistic theory and method of firearms employment to the average officer (Firearms Seminars).
In 1985, Mr. Williams became an adjunct faculty member for the California State Governor’s Office of Emergency Services at the California Specialized Training Institute. In this capacity, he trained officers in defensive tactics, tactical firearms employment, building entry, vehicle stops, and officer survival scenario and role-playing. Within two years, he became the Coordinator and Primary Instructor of the State’s Officer Safety & Field Tactics courses. Mr. Williams also was responsible for developing and presenting training programs in Terrorism Management and in Earthquake Emergency Management.
Mr. Williams also performed as the primary tactical and firearms instructor to the “San Diego Border Crime Prevention Unit,” a joint U.S. Border Patrol and San Diego Police Department task force whose mission was interdicting border bandits at the San Ysidro, California border from 1985-1987. Under his instruction, the team became so effective in their shootings of vicious border criminals that the President of Mexico demanded the team be disbanded, and President Reagan intervened. The BCPU Team, through its tactics and use of reasonable deadly force, saved untold numbers of innocent illegal immigrants from vicious border criminals.
He accepted a position with the Tracy, California, Police Department, as the agency’s Training Specialist and a member of the management team (1994). He was responsible for developing and presenting major training programs to comprehensively address all training required by patrol and SWAT officers at the various levels within the agency. Additional duties included being a member of the management team and was intricately involved the evaluation of force by officers.
Author
Mr. Williams is a frequent contributor to Law & Order, the NTOA's The Tactical Edge, the Defensive Tactics Newsletter, and many other national police magazines, with well over 150 articles published. He served as an Advisory Board Member with The Police Marksman Association for 12 years, and is also the author of the book, "Force Reporting for Every Cop." Since 1986, Mr. Williams has interviewed the investigators of California peace officer murders, reviewing the facts and circumstances of each event. This information, together with other contributors, was collated into a series of articles detailing the murders of California officers. This study spanned from 1980 to 1998. These articles made officer safety training suggestions, directly influencing the course content of academies and advanced training in officer safety throughout the nation. Mr. Williams was a founding and core committee member for the California P.O.S.T. Committee for the Study of Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA), and served for three years with that committee. He continues the informal study of the circumstances by which police officers and agents are murdered and feloniously injured.
Expert Witness
Mr. Williams serves as a risk management consultant and Expert Witness in civil rights litigation of officer-involved force response incidents. Mr. Williams has been testifying in his capacity as an expert in both federal and superior courts since 1991, and has a solid reputation for fairness, consistency, and honesty.
Benchmade Knife Company Corporate Trainer
Benchmade is the manufacturer of the finest production knives in existence. Their design, choice of premium materials, and dedication to the knife making art makes it a natural partner for Cutting Edge Training's premier knife training programs for law enforcement and the military.
Danner Boot Company Expert Panelist
Mr. Williams serves as an expert panelist advising and consulting Danner on boot design for armed professionals.