School Violence Consultants: 9

Dr. William L. Bainbridge, Ph.D., FACFE, is a Forensic Education Expert with extensive experience in School Related Accidents, Incidents, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, College Athletics/Sports Injuries and Title IX compliance. He is court qualified in Schooling, Education Standards, Policies, and is considered to an Expert in over 35 states.

Dr. Bainbridge currently serves as President and CEO of the SchoolMatch® Institute and as a Distinguished Research Professor at The University of Dayton.

www.expertonschools.com

Charles H. Heller, PhD, is a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist with over 35 years of experience in his field. Dr. Heller offers consultative expert evaluations to assess children and adults for intellectual, emotional, and mental abnormalities as defined by federal regulations. He is experienced in psychotherapy and psychological testing and provides psychological services to a broad spectrum of clients. Dr. Heller is currently on staff at Rutgers University Biomedical Health Service, specializing in criminal behavior and risk assessment. He also serves as a forensic psychologist consultant for the Rockland County (NY) court evaluation service, where he has performed hundreds of child custody, as well as criminal competency and child abuse/neglect evaluations.

Areas of Specialization:

Agency Consultation - Dr. Heller also offers consultation to agencies to improve team effort and communication and reduce conflict. He facilitates executive and leadership committee meetings, goal setting, and staff training and clinical supervision of other therapists. Dr. Heller is a Forensic Consultant and custody evaluator for the Rockland County (NY) Department of Mental Health and a Child Custody evaluator for the Bergen Family Center, Court Services Program. He is a Consultant to agencies that include: outpatient and inpatient alcoholism and drug abuse treatment centers, schools, foster care agencies, as well as a variety of group homes for emotionally handicapped, children with special needs, adolescents, developmentally delayed, and dual-diagnosed people.

Law Enforcement Personnel Consultation - Dr. Heller offers his services regarding treatment for alcohol and emotional problems as well as fitness for duty evaluations. Member of the Rockland County De-briefing team for police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians who have been involved in traumatic situations and the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Serve as a clinician for the member assistance program of the New York City Patrolman's Benevolent Association. Serve as an EAP clinician for agents and staff of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Speaking Engagements - Dr. Heller has delivered numerous professional speeches and seminars. His volunteer clinical supervisory and professional activities have been recognized by agencies he has helped.

View Dr. Heller's Expert Witness Profile.

Jeffrey A. Sugar, MD has been a practicing Psychiatrist for over 25 years. Board certified both in Child and General Psychiatry, Dr. Sugar is the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trauma Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA.

Dr. Sugar is Attending Psychiatrist in both Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Clinics at USC. He teaches child and general psychiatrists-in-training and medical students on topics ranging from Trauma, Adversity, and Dissociation to Psychotherapy theory and methods.

Dr. Sugar was the founding director of the Hathaway Children’s Clinical Research Institute where he performed funded research on the effects of interpersonal child trauma. Dr. Sugar has presented at national and international meetings on child and adolescent Trauma and Dissociation.

Consulting Services Include:

• Effects of Trauma and Adversity on Child Development
• Chronic Physical, Sexual or Emotional Abuse
• Psychological Trauma in the Workplace
• Date Rape / Internet Seduction
• Post-Traumatic Loss, Grief and Depression
• Psychological Effects of Injury to the Body or Brain
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Professional Organizations:

View Dr. Sugar's Expert Witness Profile.

Virginia Rhodes, EdD has over 35 years experience in Urban School District Policy, School Development, Administration and Teaching. Dr. Rhodes' specialties include persistently failing city schools, new school start-ups, intentional school design 

Consulting Focus:

• District and individual school strategy for equity
• Replacing factory model district & school structures with highly engaging models
• Replacing punitive discipline with developmental systems
• *STEM start-ups and environmental school design 
• Innovative teacher hiring, and teacher-led school models, including in districts with collective bargaining
• Replacing toxic district or school culture with human-friendly models
• Effective school security and safety--beyond electronics to the human side
• Collaborating with community grassroots organizing partners

Background - Dr. Rhodes has provided consulting services to an international firm on certain aspects of U.S. public school practices prior to their exploration of a related market sector. She acted as a consultant to the University of Cincinnati Career Center assisting in the development of pre-service teacher hiring expectations. Dr. Rhodes was retained by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to co-investigate a study for mental health and achievement factors related to excessive student mobility. 

As a consultant on AdvancedEd School Accreditation Teams, she has evaluated high school performance. Dr. Rhodes has researched and written numerous articles on school mobility, achievement, culture, and STEM (NSF). She has conducted numerous training workshops and spoken on urban school district policy and other related topics to various community groups and national educational organizations.

View Dr. Rhodes' Expert Witness Profile.

Risk and Threat Analysis Management, LLC is a recognized leader providing Investigations, Security, Emergency Management, Executive Protection and Fire Safety consulting services. Their services have helped law firms, healthcare facilities, educational institutions and and individuals mitigate risk, and ensure regulatory compliance with Federal and State agencies. 

Risk and Threat Analysis Management professionals possess years of investigative, executive protection, law enforcement, private security, fire safety and emergency management within project management experiences that guide clients as they manage threats around the world. They are prepared to provide proactive threat analysis, protection, consulting, investigations, and security training.

Consulting Services:

Principal, Alan J.  Robinson, brings over 35 years of Security / Law Enforcement experience to the  security, safety, fire safety, emergency management field. Mr. Robinson is a former Supervisor, Protection Services for Disney-ABC, Inc. in New York, where he coordinated the security of millions of dollars in equipment for both Reagan Presidential Inaugurations. While at Disney-ABC, he was credited with creating the first hostage negotiation training class after an incident at ABC News in Washington, D.C.

For  the past 25 years, Mr. Robinson has been the Director of Protection and Security Services/Emergency  Management for Atlantic Health System; a hospital system based in New Jersey where he manages: Public Safety and Security, Fire/Life Safety, Emergency  Management, Investigations, and Special Events for a healthcare system that approximately 10 million square feet of physical plant and campus, spread  throughout New  Jersey. 

Mr.  Robinson directly and indirectly manages over one-hundred (100) security  officers, investigators, fire safety officers, emergency management officers, and contract law  enforcement officers. He  has successfully navigated numerous external agency regulatory compliance  surveys including those from the “Joint Commission,” State Department of  Health, New Jersey Office of Homeland Security, and New Jersey Office of  Counter-Terrorism.

View Alan J. Robinson's Expert Witness Profile.

Dr. Joseph S. Schwartzberg, is an Educational Consultant / Expert Witness who provides consultation and testimony on cases involving students with disabilities.

Dr. Schwartzberg was responsible for developing and administering legally compliant special education programs for the 14 districts of North San Diego County. For 13 years, he served as the Senior Director of the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education for the San Diego County Office of Education. For the 7 years prior, he was the Division Director for the Southern Westchester, NY, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).

Litigation Support - Dr. Schwartzberg is experienced and skilled at deposition and trial testimony in state and federal court, broad knowledge and expertise in several areas, including but not limited to the following: matters related to the appropriate programming / services for children with disabilities, standards of care and school district responsibilities, child abuse and mandated reporter responsibilities,school safety, other agency services and responsibilities, plaintiff and defendant responsibilities, family court, civil court and administrative hearings, alternative dispute resolution. 

Areas of Expertise:

• IDEA
• Inclusion
• Mainstreaming
• Standards of Care
• Other Agency Responsibilities
• Non-public Schools
• Appropriate Programming for Students with Disabilities

View Dr. Schwartzberg's Expert Witness Profile.

SecureLaw LLC is a Security & Legal Consultancy providing substantive, corrective strategies, designed to address, and remedy criminal acts and problematic behaviors along with limiting liability exposures. SecureLaw’s cutting edge, dynamic and effective solutions are tailored to specific needs, combining legal, financial, and organizational implications associated with each remedy.

Dr. James F. Pastor, Ph.D., JD, CPP, Principal at SecureLaw LLC, brings a unique and remarkable decades long year career in Policing, Public Safety, and Security, starting as a tactical officer in Gang Crime Enforcement for the Chicago Police Department, one of the most active policing units in the country.

As a security expert, author, attorney, and former professor, Dr. Pastor merges security methods, academic theories, and legal principles; providing an exceptional level of depth and breathe to any case. As an attorney, he served and advocated for police unions, and for both security guard and electronic security firms, providing broad experience into the security industry and public safety. 

Augmented with a doctorate in Public Policy Analysis, he understands that policies create incentives and drive human behavior. As these directly impact public safety and crime, few possess his experience, his unique insight and his security sense.

Consulting Services:

• Security Law Counsel - Dr. Pastor provides support to corporate counsels, or in some cases directly to corporate decision makers, depending upon the circumstances. His deep understanding of both legal principles and security methods couples with an intuitive security “sense” derived from decades of public safety and security experience provides a unique perspective that deliver results results that are concrete, actionable and effective.
• Terrorism & Extremism / Lawlessness: Indicators & Assessments - Through his experience as a tactical police officer in the gang crime unit in Chicago that provided a perspective few possess, Dr. Pastor has also devoted thousands of hours studying, training and researching this crucial and timely threat and tactic. He has written extensively on this topic, including two books foreshadowing today’s disruptive environments: Terrorism and Public Safety Policing  and You Say You Want a Revolution: A Compelling & Cautionary Tale of What Lies Ahead.
• Risk Management & Security Liability - Dr. Pastor utilizes performance-based and industry-specific risk assessment methodologies designed to deter, detect, delay and response criteria for protecting assets. His timely and appropriate security policies and protocols, security technologies and risk management techniques  reduce liability exposure and enhance the protective environment. Significant Projects.
• Private Police Consulting - SecureLaw LLC tackles the problem left when municipal governments are faced with difficult budgetary decisions along with increased fear and crime. Those who are ready to respond with innovative, thoughtful solutions like private policing, are the change agents who will lead the way during this transition in policing and public safety. The Privatization of Police in America
• Accomplished Speaker - Dr. Pastor has broad and deep expertise on a variety of security and public safety issues. As an accomplished author, he is also a gifted, passionate speaker. If you are interested in engaging, please view a List of Topics.

View Dr. James F. Pastor's Expert Witness Profile.

Stephen M. Raffle, M.D. is double Board-Certified in Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. Dr. Raffle has over 49 years as a clinical and forensic psychiatrist offering his expert opinion in Federal and State jurisdictions nationwide. In addition to serving as an expert witness, Dr. Raffle consults to attorneys, judges, insurers, and to employers regarding Fitness for Duty and Risk of Violence (Threat) Assessment:

• 5000+ psychiatric assessments
• Expert testimony in 700 depositions and trials
• Successful clinical practice

The job of an expert witness is to educate a jury, judge, attorney, and trier of fact about the forensic psychiatrist's conclusions and how those opinions were derived in a manner well-reasoned, skillful, and easily understood by every person, not only another forensic psychiatrist. In short, an educator. Dr. Raffle’s experience as an educator extends well beyond a forensic venue, yet underpins the key to his ability to explain his opinions.

• Prof. of Psychiatry, UCSF Medical School, 20 years
• U.C. Hastings College of the Law postgraduate course "Trial and Appellate Advocacy" instructing seasoned attorneys about the direct and cross-examination of expert witnesses, with special focus on mental health experts and licensed medical professionals, Psychiatrists (MDs), Psychologists (LCSWs / MFTs), and physicians in other medical specialties, 11 years

Stephen M. Raffle, M.D. & Associates' expertise is well-established in forensic assessment in the areas of:

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Dementia and Competency
• Testamentary Capacity
• Undue Influence
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Malingering
• Emotional Distress: Intentional & Unintentional infliction
• Emotional Distress: Forensic Evaluation to render medical-legal opinion
• Diagnosis and Need for Treatment
• Fitness For Duty
• Risk/Threat Workplace Violence Assessment
• Wrongful Termination
• Discrimination (ADA, Title VII, EEOC)
• Harassment
• Employment Litigation
• Medical Malpractice
• Catastrophic Injury
• Temporary and Permanent Disability
• Medical Records Review
• Assist in Preparation for Direct and Cross-examination of Expert Witnesses and Deposition of expert witnesses

Licensed in California.

David Wolowitz, JD is an Education Law Attorney with 40 years of extensive experience advising schools on the current and past standard of
care for protection of students from harm by other students, educators, and third parties.  

Mr. Wolowitz regularly presents to national organizations, including the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) ,the Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), and the National Business Officers Association (NBOA).  He has presented to international organizations, including the European Council of Independent Schools (ECIS) and the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS).  

In 2018, Mr. Wolowitz gave over 30 presentations and trainings in 10 states and advised international schools in Japan, Taiwan, Jordan, Italy, Spain, France and Liberia. He is the author of numerous articles relating to creating a safe school culture and is known for his practical approach to complex issues.

Mr. Wolowitz often serves as a consultant to schools and organizations, including K-12, sports clubs, camps, and churches experiencing critical incidents relating to misconduct which has harmed students. Consulting services include:

• Coordinating and overseeing of third-party investigations
• Advising administrators and boards on how to respond to complaints of misconduct responsibly, giving consideration to transparency, accountability, and equity
• Conducting child safeguarding audits to help schools and their boards determine whether a school is meeting current standards of care for child protection
• Recommending improvements for safer school cultures

View David Wolowitz's Expert Witness Profile.