Sergeant Ski

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Coast Guard

Sergeant Ski began his career in service with the United States Coast Guard, where he developed the discipline, composure, and situational awareness that would define his approach to law enforcement for decades to come.

The Coast Guard taught him that calm under pressure isn't a personality trait — it's a trained skill. That lesson became the foundation of everything he teaches today.

Lane County Sheriff's Office

Lane County Sheriff's Office

After his military service, Sergeant Ski joined the Lane County Sheriff's Office in Oregon, where he served for 25 years. He began in Corrections as a Deputy, then transferred to Police Services where he patrolled the county.

Those years put him in rooms and on roadsides with people on the worst day of their lives. He learned that respect goes a long way, and that most situations can be slowed down if you're willing to take a breath first.

He promoted to Sergeant and transferred back to the Jail, then was reassigned to Police Services as a Sergeant. When the job changed, it became less about what he could handle and more about helping his deputies go home safe — and giving them the tools to do the job with dignity.

He finished his career in Police Services, eventually taking responsibility for contracts, Marine Patrol, the Civil Section, and the Crisis Negotiation Team.

Crisis Negotiation

Crisis Negotiation

Sergeant Ski trained with the FBI as a crisis negotiator, learning the psychology of high-stakes communication and the art of talking someone back from the edge.

He was selected by the FBI to attend the National Crisis Negotiators Course at Quantico, Virginia — at the time, one of only two certified police officers in Oregon to hold that training at that time. There, he worked alongside new FBI negotiators in an intensive program that built a deep skillset he brought back to Oregon and put to work in the field and his team.

He applied those skills in the field — barricaded subjects, suicidal individuals, domestic crises — and brought those lessons back to train the next generation of officers and leaders.

Family

Family

Behind the badge and the training career is a family man who understands that the principles of de-escalation and leadership don't stop at the end of a shift.

The same skills that defuse a crisis on the street — listening, empathy, clear communication — are the ones that build strong families and communities.

He and his wife have been married for over 30 years. Together they raised a son and a daughter, and somewhere along the way the family grew into something neither of them could have planned — six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

They travel the country to stay close to all of them, and one granddaughter even made the decision to move to their state to be near family. That kind of thing doesn't happen by accident — it's the result of a lifetime of showing up.