Deputy Chief AJ DeAndrea ( Ret .) Arvada , CO Police Department
Deputy Chief A . J . DeAndrea ( retired ) began his career with the Arvada , Colorado Police Department in 1993 , retiring from APD in 2023 and is currently the Owner and CEO of Centurio Training and Consulting LLC . During his time at Arvada he served as a member of the Jefferson County Regional SWAT Team from 1996 to 2012 - a collateral duty team where he was a Team Leader . The majority of his career was spent on patrol but he also spent 2 years as the Sergeant of the Internal Affairs Unit and 4 years as the Sergeant in the Community Response Impact Team ( CRIT ) and was also an Operations Commander . During the last 5 years of his career he was a Deputy Chief , where he over saw both the Field and Operations divisions of the Arvada Police Department .
Deputy Chief DeAndrea is a lead instructor for the NTOA ’ s Team Leader Development Course , a lead instructor in the NTOA ’ s Command College , a Master Less Lethal Instructor , a Colorado and Alaskan POST certified instructor . He teaches Leadership , Officer Survival , Building Searches , Rapid and Immediate Deployment ( RAID ), Enhanced Active Shooter Strategies , Single Officer Response to an Active Shooter , SWAT , SWAT Team Leader Development , Defensive Tactics and Firearms as well as many other disciplines . He was formally certified in Explosive Breaching .
Deputy Chief DeAndrea graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1990 , and has a Bachelor of Arts degree . He is a graduate of the Northwestern School of Police Staff and Command , Class 504 as well as the prestigious FBI National Academy , Session 283 .
Deputy Chief DeAndrea has received 6 Medals for Valor , 4 Medals for Distinguished Service , 2 Medals for Meritorious Service , 2 unit citations and numerous commendations . From 2006 to 2010 , he was honored as the “ Police Officer of the Year ” through the Primo Awards . In 2007 , he also received an Honorable Mention for Police Officer of the Year through the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Parade Magazine . In 2014 , Deputy Chief DeAndrea received the John Kolman Award of Excellence from the National Tactical Officers Association . Also in 2014 , he received the Colorado Attorney General ’ s Excellence in Law Enforcement Award . This award is given to only one Law Enforcement Officer a year by the Colorado Attorney General . In 2015 , he was inducted into the Colorado ’ s Italian American Hall of Fame . In 2017 , he was recognized as the City of Arvada Employee of the Year for Service to the Community . In 2023 he received the Jeffco / DeAngelis Foundation ’ s inaugural Community Safety Champion Award .
Deputy Chief DeAndrea has instructed all over the United States , United Kingdom , Canada , Sweden and Serbia . Some of those venues have been the FBI Headquarters in Washington DC , FBI Academy in Quantico , VA the IACP Annual Conference in both Denver , CO , Chicago , IL , and Boston , MA , the Rocky Mountain Tactical Team Association , the Texas Tactical Police Officer Association , the Missouri Tactical Police Officer ’ s Association , the Michigan Tactical Officer ' s Association and the New York Tactical Police Officer ' s Association .
He has presented at many School Resource Officer ’ s Conferences to include but not limited to the National Association of School Resource Officers , the Florida Association of School Resource Officers , the Texas Association of School Resource Officers , the Colorado Association of School Resource Officers and the Oregon Association of School Resource Officers . He is an instructor for the National Tactical Officer ’ s Association and does numerous AAR of the incidents he ’ s been involved in . He is a member of the advisory board for the DeAngelis Foundation , National Council of School Safety Directors and the IACP ' s Mass Violence Advisory Initiative . He formally sat on the advisory board for the I Love U Guys Foundation , the Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab , the Jefferson County Juvenile Assessment Center and the Denver Metro Regional Anti Violence Enforcement Network . In 2009 , he provided instruction at the Police Improvement Facility in Bramshill , United Kingdom and in 2010 , he was the International Keynote Speaker at the ACPO Conference in London , England . In 2012 to 2014 and 2017 to 2023 he instructed in Vancouver , Canada . In 2015-2017 and in 2019 , he instructed in Ontario , Canada . In 2018 , he spoke in Regina , Canada . In 2018 and 2022 he instructed in Calgary , Canada . In 2017 and 2020 he instructed in Winnipeg , Manitoba and in 2022 Quebec City , Quebec . In 2018 he instructed in Uppsala , Sweden . He is recognized as a Subject Matter Expert on Active Shooters by the US Department of Education . In 2013 , he spoke in the Kennedy Caucus Hearing Room in Washington , DC and participated in a conference call with the Vice President of the United States Joe Biden . In June of 2018 , he met with the Attorney General of the United States-Jeff Sessions . In 2023 at the request of the US Embassy in Belgrade , Serbia he presented at numerous conferences and did numerous press interviews throughout the country of Serbia .
Deputy Chief DeAndrea was an Entry Team Leader at Columbine High School on the first sweep of the building and a Team Leader during the Bulldozer Incident in Granby , CO . He helped devise and execute the tactical plan for the Hostage Rescue at Platte Canyon High School in September 2006 . Again in 2006 , he was the Team Leader during an Officer Rescue where a deputy was pinned down by gunfire and was rescued without injury . In 2007 , he was the Patrol Supervisor and Patrol Entry Team Leader during the Youth With a Mission ( YWAM ) active shooting . While working with the CRIT unit , he received his 6th Medal of Valor for helping to physically subdue an armed violent kidnapping suspect in a stairwell .
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