Major Thaddeus Espy

• Thaddeus Espy is currently a major assigned to the Training Division with the Tulsa Police Department in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• In this position, Major Espy oversees new officers' recruitment and background investigations, the training and development of recruits, and the continuing education for existing rank-and-file officers. Recruits complete a rigorous 29-week basic academy. Major Espy has worked to innovate this training with updated methodologies, including reality-based training and role-playing scenarios to better prepare new officers for the profession's challenges. Major Espy has promoted more effective pedagogical methods for the rank-and-file personnel by incorporating virtual learning and small group learning opportunities.
• In addition to his primary duties as the Training Division Director, Major Espy also regularly contributes to policy development, specifically in the area of use of force. He is considered a departmental use of force expert. Outside of the police department, Major Espy serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the YMCA of Greater Tulsa and reviews articles for the International Association of Chiefs of Police magazine, Police Chief.
• Before his current assignment, Major Espy served the Tulsa Police Department in a variety of capacities. Major Espy joined the Tulsa Police Department in 2005 and worked as a patrol officer in each of the department's three patrol divisions until 2008. This year, he served at the Training Division as a full-time firearms instructor and part-time defensive-tactics instructor. In addition, he joined the department's Special Operations Team (SWAT).  In 2010, Major Espy was promoted to rank of lieutenant and worked assignments in Patrol, Internal Affairs, and the Special Investigations Division as a squad leader, investigator, and administrative lieutenant, respectively.
• In 2015, Major Espy was promoted to captain and served as a Shift Commander at the department's Mingo Valley Division. While serving in this capacity, in 2017, the department formed the Special Response Team and chose then-Captain Espy to command the unit, which became a valuable resource for the department and City of Tulsa. Since its inception, the Special Response Teams has assisted with civil disturbances, natural disasters, missing persons, and special investigations. In October of 2019, the department transferred him Training Division as the Assistant Training Director. In February of 2020, the department promoted him to the rank of major and assigned him as the Training Director.
• Major Espy is a self-described lifelong learner. He attended the University of California at Davis and earned a Bachelor of Science in 1996. After living abroad in Japan, he returned to California and earned a master of arts from the University of San Francisco. Since then, his curiosity and pursuit of professional development have led him to take courses at junior college and online over the years. In addition, in the pursuit of professional development, Major Espy's curriculum vitae of continuing education is extensive. He has made it a goal to complete at least one formal professional development opportunity annually since joining the Tulsa Police Department.  Currently, Major Espy is pursuing another master of arts from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey in Security Studies.
• Keen interest in use of force issues in law enforcement pushed Major Espy to attend the Force Science Institute's Force Science Analyst certification, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center's Use of Force Instructor Program, Ken Murray's Force-on-Force Instructor certification, as well as many other courses. Leadership is very important to Major Espy, and in 2018, Major Espy attended the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police in Boston, MA. 
• Major Espy is not always a major. Thaddeus is married with two young children, a son and a daughter. Playing in the backyard with both gives him a smile most things cannot. He enjoys fitness and has participated in sports throughout his life. He loves the outdoors and eagerly looks forward to his annual summertime fly fishing trip in Montana throughout the year.