When Tragedy Strikes: Building Resilience in Waukesha, Wisconsin


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On November 21, 2021, tragedy struck the community of Waukesha, Wisconsin, when the driver of a vehicle drove through the Waukesha Christmas Parade, striking parade goers and resulting in the death of six and injury of 67 people. Chief Daniel Thompson discusses the mental health and wellness impacts of the event on Waukesha Police Department, peer responding agencies, and the community. Chief Thompson and panelists address building resilience, leadership, resources, and relationships as the cornerstones in response to and recovery from traumatic events.

Steve Caballero

Law Enforcement Coordinator

US Attorney's Office Eastern District of WI.

Steve Caballero is the Law Enforcement Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Wisconsin. Mr. Caballero is tasked with facilitating and promoting coordination, communication, and cooperation among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies in his district. He retired from the Milwaukee Police Department after 25 years reaching the rank of Assistant Chief.

Daniel Thompson, MA

Organizational Leadership and Administration

Concordia University

Chief Daniel Thompson began his law enforcement career with the Milwaukee Police Department in 1991. During his time in patrol, he was selected for special assignments with the Gang Squad and Metro Drug Unit. In 1999, he was promoted to Detective. As a Detective, he worked for five years in HIDTA (High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area). This task force is a federally funded group of Detectives and Officers from both federal and local agencies to target drug trafficking organizations. He was also selected to become a member of the Milwaukee Hazardous Devices Unit (Bomb Squad), which is a 24/7 365 day on-call commitment. Chief Daniel then worked in the Homicide Unit for approximately five years. He was a Task Force Agent assigned full-time to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in disrupting and dismantling international and domestic terrorist threats. When he was promoted to Lieutenant, he was assigned to the Intelligence Fusion Division and became the Director for STAC (Southeastern Wisconsin Threat Analysis Center). In addition, he was assigned to the Homicide Unit as a Lieutenant. He was then promoted to Captain and led the Fusion Division in leveraging technology and partnerships with state, federal, and local agencies, as well as the private sector. In 2019, Thompson was promoted to the Inspector of Police and oversaw operations of the City of Milwaukee. He was also assigned to manage and lead the team to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention. On May 4th, 2020 Thompson was sworn in as Chief of Police for the City of Waukesha. His personal and professional accomplishments include being a certified public manager Wisconsin Command College Class Six), and a certified professional manager. He also has a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership.

David Kennington, MA, LPC, MHSP

Behavior Health Services Assistant Manager

Metropolitan Nashville, Tennessee, Police Department

David Kennington is a Licensed Professional Counselor employed by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) since 2007. He manages The Professional Wellness Section, which was cited as a model officer wellness program in a 2019 Department of Justice Congressional Report. The Professional Wellness Section has 2 Units (Counseling and Wellness) with multiple programs including, training, critical incident stress management, psychotherapy, peer support, family support, and chaplain support. The Professional Wellness Section is comprised of both sworn and civilian employees.  He provides therapy to law enforcement personnel and their families, is a certified officer wellness instructor and leads critical incident stress debriefings. He has over 30 years of experience working as a clinical psychotherapist. He recently served on Officer Safety and Wellness Panels at the Department of Justice. He has a B.A. in Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin (1988) and a M.A. in Professional Counseling from The University of Texas at Tyler (1994). David has been married to Korree for 23 years. They have 2 sons, Collin (20) and Cooper (16). 

Laura Wilt

Program Manager

IACP

Laura Wilt is a Program Manager on the IACP Programs Team currently responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of all training and technical assistance activities of the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC) to agencies across the nation. Since joining the IACP eight years ago, Laura has worked on the IACP Programs and IACP Member Engagement Teams focused on the implementation and delivery of projects, training, and technical assistance initiatives aimed at providing practical tools, education, and support to the policing field. Areas of focus in her portfolio of work have included victim services, trauma-informed training, officer safety and wellness, multi-collaborative partnerships, juvenile justice, community-police relations, women in law enforcement, and leadership. She has supported federal grant awards from diverse funders including OJJDP, OVC, and the COPS Office. Before becoming a team member with the IACP, Laura served as Crisis Manager and Training Coordinator at the Arlington, VA based non-profit, CrisisLink, centered on crisis intervention and suicide prevention.  

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