PODCAST · government
CATO Podcast
by catopodcast
We believe Tactics are a science, and the Art is in how we apply those tactics. Members of the California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO) interview a variety of guests and discuss lessons learned, the evolution of tactics, and other contemporary issues facing law enforcement
Episodes
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Ep 80: Lessons Learned: Mass Shooting at Texas Mall
On May 6, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at the Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen, Texas. An Allen Police Department officer was already on the scene for an unrelated call for service when he bravely pursued the suspect and ended the incident. Allen Police Department Deputy Chief (then...
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Ep 79: Active Shooter Leadership with Travis Norton
Marcus interviews Travis Norton about his doctoral research on active shooter response at the University of Southern California. Travis was one of the authors of CATO's latest two-day course, Active Shooter Incident Leadership. Travis contributed much of the research and content for this...
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Episode 78: Sound Doctrine: A Tactical Primer, Chapter 8, Gathering and Using Intelligence
"Good intelligence is the linchpin for all tactical operations." -Sid Heal Marcus, Adam, and Kris discuss Chapter 8 of Sound Doctrine: A Tactical Primer. The group discusses information versus intelligence, the parts of the intelligence cycle, and situational awareness. They also cover the common...
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Ep 77: Building Resiliency with Justin Dodge
On June 15, 2023, Denver Police Sergeant Justin Dodge was working the Denver Nuggets celebratory parade when he found himself caught under the wheels of an 80,000 lb fire truck carrying the players. Lying in the street, Dodge promised himself that if the tourniquets held and he could get to the...
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Ep 76: Lessons Learned from the Ohio Tactical Officers Association
It's been said that it's more important how you think than what you think. CATO VP, Marcus Sprague, was fortunate to represent CATO at the Ohio Tactical Officers Association Conference in Sandusky, Ohio. In this episode of the CATO podcast, Marcus sits down with Executive Director Pat Fiorilli of...
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Ep 75: Exploring Traumatic Brain Injuries, PTSD and CopLine
In this episode of the CATO podcast, we connect with Stephanie Samuels, a police psychologist and founder of CopLine, a national suicide hotline for law enforcement. We'll explore Samuels' research related to first responders and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Samuels and many others believe that...
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Ep 74: The Reality of First Responder Wellness Programs with Clinical Coordinator, Teal Ankeny
In this episode of the CATO Podcast, Marcus talks with First Responder Wellness Clinical Coordinator Teal Ankeny. Teal's background places her in a unique position to understand some of the wellness challenges facing the first responder community. She and the team at First Responder Wellness have...
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Ep 73: Our Common Challenges: Reflecting on Five Years of SWAT Team Leader Courses
CATO Team Leader Instructors Kenny Brayton and Kris Jenny sit down with Marcus to reflect on lessons learned while teaching CATO's SWAT Team Leader course over the last five years. The trio discussed common challenges shared by the majority of teams, how teams address these challenges and the...
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Ep 72: Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail
One of our Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, said it best, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” It's a critical element to tactical operations and we're discussing it on the latest CATO Podcast. Kris Jenny and Marcus analyze the importance of planning and how to evolve from a...
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Ep 71: Round Table with State Tactical Associations
CATO Vice President, Marcus Sprague, had the honor of attending a meeting with several tactical associations from all across the country. He took advantage of the opportunity and asked a few folks to discuss some of the issues we all face. The group discussed leadership, recruiting, selection...
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Ep 70: Sound Doctrine Chapter 7: Strategy and Tactics, Part 2
Marcus and guest-host, Kris Jenny, discuss Part 2 of Chapter 7 of Sound Doctrine: A Tactical Primer, Sid Heal's 2000 book, which has become an indispensable part of tactical training. Kris and Marcus finish their discussion on the final portion of Chapter 7 of Sound Doctrine. They review...
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Ep 69: A proactive approach to Mental Wellness with Dr. Stephen Odom and Retired Sgt Jeff McGreevy
Marcus sits down with Retired Sergeant Jeff McGreevy and the founder of First Responder Wellness, Dr. Stephen Odom. Dr. Odom and Jeff discuss their experiences serving the 1st responder community, what works with peer support programs, and a few things some organizations are doing wrong. Dr. Odom...
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Ep 68: Sound Doctrine Chapter 7: Strategy and Tactics, Part 1
Marcus and guests Travis Norton and Kris Jenny discuss Part 1 of Chapter 7 of Sound Doctrine: A Tactical Primer, Sid Heal's 2000 book, which has become an indispensable part of tactical training. The group discusses Sid's insightful and compelling advice on strategy and tactics, as well as...
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Ep 67: Common Ground: Dr. Simpson Shares Health Advice with Navy Seals and CATO
So, this episode is a little different than our usual podcast here at CATO. For anyone who has listened to our previous episodes, you know that anytime spent with retired Command Master Chief Jason Tuschen is time well spent. We also enjoy our conversations with Dr. Graham Simpson. So, when Brent...
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Ep 66: Interview with Rusty Firmin - The Man with No Gloves
At CATO we believe that history is the repository of all lessons and to ignore history is do doom yourself to repeat it. At the 2023 conference in San Diego, we asked the infamous SAS team leader Rusty “No Gloves” Firmin to debrief the lessons learned from the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege. I asked...
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Ep 65: SWAT Audits, Wellness and the Glamour of being the Secretary of CATO
Marcus and CATO Secretary Jon Cabrera sit down to discuss SWAT audits and some of the themes we have seen team's struggle with throughout the state. The pair also discusses what the CATO Community can do better when it comes to working on their mental health. From wellness programs to less common...
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Ep 64: Sniper Training Trends and what you need to know
Marcus asked CATO board member Jon Cabrera to sit down with fellow board member Matt Alexander and his teaching partner Frank Harper as the group discusses the common training challenges facing the training and utilization of sniper teams.
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Ep 63: Sound Doctrine Chapter 6: Envisioning and Achieving the End State
In this CATO Podcast, the group discusses Chapter 6 of Sid Heal's Sound Doctrine: Envisioning and Achieving the End State. This chapter is filled with examples of how you can better understand and apply the following critical concepts: Assessing the situation, developing and defining an…
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Episode 62: Leveraging Science to Enhance Human Performance for First Responders
Marcus sits down at O2X headquarters with John Vargo to discuss how this human performance company is leveraging the latest science and technology to enhance human performance for first responders throughout the country. All too often, law enforcement programs are unevenly focused on mental...
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Ep 61: Interview with Bob Scales: Advice from the frontlines of RIPPA. Consent Decrees and defending police with data.
Marcus, Adam Sharki, and Brent Stratton sit down with the legendary Bob Scales. Bob Scales is a former King County Deputy Prosecutor and Special Assistant, United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. He worked for 14 years (and three mayors) as a Public Safety Policy Advisor…
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Ep 60: Sound Doctrine Chapter 5: Tactical Principles
For this podcast, Marcus joins CATO Board of Directors members Kris Jenny and Kenny Brayton. Kris Jenny is a Sergeant with the Napa Police Department and Kenny Brayton is a CATO instructor and Sergeant with the Ontario Police Department. Together they welcome special guest, Bobby Crees of the...
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Ep 59: The Operator’s Point of View: Supporting Large-Venue Operations
Marcus and Travis Norton co-host a conversation about the various ways we train and support large-venue operations from an operator’s point of view. They are joined by Austin who works for a major metropolitan police agency in Northern California. Austin shares his experiences as part of a...
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Episode 58: California AB742 and Constitutional Policing with Gene Ramirez
Marcus and attorney Gene Ramirez discuss the latest amendments to the California Police Canine Bill (Bill 742), which was placed into inactive status by the bill's author as this podcast was being recorded. This bill will most likely return during the next legislative session, so there is still...
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Episode 57: Sheep Dog to Bureaucrat with Jack Enter
Marcus speaks with author and presenter, Jack Enter, about his recently published article entitled, “Sheep Dog to Bureaucrat." CATO invited Jack to return to the podcast to discuss how the structure, roles, and even the promotional process in law enforcement, can turn "WE" leaders into "ME"...
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Episode 56: Sound Doctrine Chapter 4: The Structure of Command and Control
In this episode of the CATO Podcast, Marcus sits down with CATO President and co-host, Brent Stratton, and frequent CATO guest, Travis Norton, to discuss why we need to formalize the structure that supports Command and Control, some lessons learned, and what you can do today to reduce friction in...
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Episode 55: Critical Incident Review with Medal of Honor Recipient, Earl Plumlee
Learn from the Best: Medal of Honor Recipient Master Sergeant Earl Plumlee CATO joins forces with tactical expert and host of The Debrief, Jon Becker, as he sits down with Medal of Honor recipient Master Sergeant Earl Plumlee. This podcast features the most exciting excerpts from Brent and Jon's...
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Episode 54: Training: What Can You Do Today to Make It Relevant and Impactful
Kenny Brayton and Marcus sit down with Captain Dustin Kulling to discuss the key components required to design effective training. Learn how to apply the Theory of Constructed Emotion to police decision-making training and how action competency facilities and wellness training enhance the...
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Episode 53: Episode Sound Doctrine- Chapter 3 Nature of Commanding
This episode of the podcast discusses Chapter Three of Sound Doctrine. Marcus and guests Travis Norton and Adam Sharki discuss Command and Control, the challenges of selecting a commander, and what it means to command effectively.
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Episode 52: Attorney Gene Ramirez-Will law enforcement lose bite dogs in California
Attorney Gene Ramirez was a founding member of CATO and has spent the last several decades defending law enforcement officers in civil court. Gene discusses California Assembly Bill 742, which bans law enforcement's use of bite dogs. Gene also discusses his lessons learned from defending officers...
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Episode 51: Challenges of Collateral Hostage Negotiations Team
Marcus sits down with Nolan Cleall, who has served on a mid-sized Northern California agency's HNT Team for the last ten years. The two discuss his experiences on a collateral Hostage Negotiation Team. They review common approaches to training SWAT/HNT integration and cover some tools you can...
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Episode 50: Novelty- What you need to know before you face it
Lt Travis Norton and Lt Adam Sharki join Marcus to discuss the concept of "novelty." What does it mean? Why does it make us all amateurs? They'll cover strategies you can use today to enhance your response to these "novel" and critical events.
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Episode 49: Taking Care of Your Team
CATO President Brent Stratton sits down with Nick Sprague, the President of the Rocky Mountain Tactical Team Association (RMTTA). The two discuss how to take care of your team, both professionally and personally. They also cover the importance of debriefs--even when they hurt--and the…
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Episode 48: Optimizing your health- a conversation with Dr. Graham Simpson
In this episode, Brent and I sit down with retired Navy Seal Command Master Chief Jason Tuschen and world-renowned author, Dr. Graham Simpson, who is the medical director for Opt Health. Military and first responders share many similar health problems during and after their service. I asked Jason...
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Episode 47: Unified Command lessons during mass casualty events with Jim Etzin
Marcus Sprague and Kris Jenny sit down with Fire Training Division Manager Jim Etzin. Jim has been involved with the tactical community since serving as a corpsman in Desert Storm and as a combat medicine instructor for the 1st Marine Division. Jim attended LASD SEB SWAT school and has dedicated...
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Episode 46: Shifting the paradigm of ropes training with Dana Vilander
Is your ropes program ascending to meet the needs of contemporary tactical problems? Marcus Sprague sits down with a longtime friend of CATO, Dana Vilander. Dana has partnered with CATO in presenting Tactical Rope Access courses and has decades of experience in the tactical community as an…
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Episode 45: Echelon Front’s Codey Gandey
Kevin Cyr (RCMP SWAT) joins Marcus with Echelon Front's Codey Gandey. Codey is part of the Echelon Front staff and is the lead for their First Responder Training program. Codey has worked with a variety of agencies and has personally worked with Kevin's full-time swat team in British Columbia.…
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Episode 44: From Atlanta to the Middle East, A conversation with Randy Wagner
Marcus sits down with the Deputy Director of the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center to discuss the importance of fusion centers. Randy started his career as a patrol officer in Atlanta Georgia. However, he spent the majority of his career working for the Drug Enforcement Agency. His...
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Episode 43: What’s Wrong With Our Active Shooter Response?
Marcus Sprague, Kris Jenny, Travis Norton and our guest, Kevin Cyr, discuss active shooter training and response and some of the lessons of the past that we have yet to learn. While the nation mourns the tragedy in Uvalde, it would behoove us to discuss what we can do now to better prepare...
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Episode 42: Jon Becker and ’The Debrief.’ A New Video Podcast with Leaders in Law Enforcement
Brent and Marcus sit down with Jon to discuss his relationship with CATO and how he has crossed paths with several pioneers of the tactical community. Jon's unique background has given him the opportunity to receive thousands of hours of tactical training as a civilian and work with a variety of...
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Episode 41: Honor Hike Foundation And Why We Should Support This Noble Cause
In this episode, Brent and Marcus talk with the founding members of the Honor Hike Foundation. Each year members of this organization hike one mile for every fallen Law Enforcement Officer from around the country, creating a moving memorial. The foundation also supports the officers' families and...
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Episode 40: Swans, Rhinos, and Gordon Graham
For this exciting podcast, Marcus is joined by CATO board member and training cadre member, Sergeant Kristofer Jenny, and Travis Norton, a southern California lieutenant. The three sit down with the infamous Gordon Graham to discuss Black Swans, Gray Rhinos, and what you can do now to impact your...
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Episode 39 - Sound Doctrine Chapter 2: Crisis and Conflict
In this episode of the CATO podcast, Brent and Marcus sit down with CATO's Demonstration Response Chair, Adam Sharki, and CATO Training Cadre member, Kris Jenny, to discuss Chapter 2 of the Sound Doctrine, Crisis and Conflict. The group discusses the definition of a crisis, the five…
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Episode 38 - Blast Analytics and Your Brain
Neuroscientist Dr. James Engall, co-founder and President of Blast Analytics and Mitigation Inc., sits down with Brent and me to discuss the results of BAam360's research and mitigation with the Navy Seals, how they are bringing about awareness and mitigation strategies related to blast exposure…
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Episode 37 - AB481 Military Equipment Legislation for California
Marcus and Brent sit down with a panel of experts to discuss California Assembly AB481, affectionately known as the Military Equipment Bill. Panel members have spoken with the folks from Lexipol as well as other attorneys and experts throughout the state and come together to discuss the major...
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Episode 36 - An Introduction to the Book ’Sound Doctrine’ and Why You Need to Read this Book and What It Can Do For You
Brent Stratton, Marcus Sprage and Adam Sharki discuss Sid Heal's book, 'Sound Doctrine'. They discuss what they like about the book and why they feel it should be the cornerstone for the foundation of tactical learning. This will be the first of several episodes that break down 'Sound Doctrine'…
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Episode 35 - Is your demonstration response and use of force policies and practices in compliance with AB 48? Here’s what you need to know now
Marcus is joined by CATO SWAT Team Leader Cadre members Kenny Brayton and Kris Jenny, CATO's After Action Review Chair Travis Norton, and CATO's Demonstration Response Chair Adam Sharki for a panel discussion on the component parts of California Assembly Bill 48 and what you need to know to…
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Episode 34 - A Shotgun Conversation with Sgt. Tom Datro, Host of the Policing in America Podcast
Marcus sits down with Sergeant Tom Datro, host of the POLICING IN AMERICA podcast. Sergeant Datro works for one of the largest police departments on the West Coast and created his podcast to address difficult challenges facing law enforcement today. In this episode of the CATO podcast, Marcus and...
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Episode 33 - When Your Training Doesn‘t Prepare You for the Fight
Jeff Felts, from Center Mass, is our guest on the latest episode of the CATO Podcast with Marcus Sprague and Kris Jenny, CATO Training Cadre member. As a young sniper, Jeff found himself well trained, but poorly prepared for a very dynamic hostage situation. This setback sent him on a journey to...
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Episode 32 - The Body Keeps the Score with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk
We don't often talk about one of the greatest threats facing our profession. This adversary is hard to name, difficult to identify, and is rarely talked about openly, yet each year it kills more and more dedicated men and women in law enforcement and the military. We all agree these professions...
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Episode 31 - Lessons Learned from the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon
Marcus and Brent sit down with retired Alexandria Virginia Captain Tom Panther. Captain Panther, a former SWAT Operator and Commander, was one of the men charged with coordinating the response to the Pentagon attack on 09/11/01. While we hope to never repeat the experiences of 9/11 and the…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
We believe Tactics are a science, and the Art is in how we apply those tactics. Members of the California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO) interview a variety of guests and discuss lessons learned, the evolution of tactics, and other contemporary issues facing law enforcement
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catopodcast
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does CATO Podcast have?
CATO Podcast currently has 80 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is CATO Podcast about?
We believe Tactics are a science, and the Art is in how we apply those tactics. Members of the California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO) interview a variety of guests and discuss lessons learned, the evolution of tactics, and other contemporary issues facing law enforcement
How often does CATO Podcast release new episodes?
CATO Podcast has 80 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to CATO Podcast?
You can listen to CATO Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts CATO Podcast?
CATO Podcast is created and hosted by catopodcast.
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