Samuel D. Faulkner

Sam Faulkner has been an instructor at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) for the past eighteen years.  His specific focus of instruction deals with defensive tactics, response to resistance, officer survival, confrontational firearms training and physical conditioning. 

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hiram College and a Masters degree from Kent State University.  He also completed post-graduate work in adult education at Wright State University as well as attending Northwestern University School of Public Safety, with specific studies in the College of Staff and Command. 

Sam holds a fifth-degree black belt in Karate and is a past gold medal winner in the Ohio Law Enforcement Olympics. 

Prior to coming to OPOTA, a division of the Ohio Attorney General's Office, Sam worked for Portage County as a probation officer, specializing in the intensive supervision of adult felons, and as a deputy sheriff.  He has also served as a police officer for the city of Kent, Ohio.  Sam also served with the Port of Columbus Airport Police and is currently a Lieutenant with the Mechanicsburg, Ohio Police Department. 
 
Sam has been featured on the Law Enforcement Television Network as a recognized expert in the area of response to resistance, having had numerous articles published on the topic.  In 1999, he authored a book entitled Use of Force: Decision Making and Legal Precedence.  Sam is also a consultant to the U. S. Justice Department’s, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and having participated in national research projects, he is working with others to establish a national standard for response to resistance and aggression for law enforcement and correction officers.  He has testified as an expert representing law enforcement and corrections over 260 times across the United states. 

Sam is a 1997 winner of the Ohio Attorney General’s Professionalism Award.