Elite Training Days is THE main event of the year in the interview and interrogation community, where leading experts from across the globe gather for exclusive training and networking opportunities. Developed by the International Association of Interviewers (IAI), this is the ONLY event with a dedicated focus on sharpening the skills of the interviewer.

This years speakers include:

Dr. Brian Cutler
President
Coral Coast Group
In 1989, Dr. Cutler began serving as a consultant and expert witness in cases involving risk factors for mistaken eyewitness identifications and mistaken eyewitness memories and has to date consulted in more than 200 cases. In 2013, Dr. Cutler began serving as a consultant and expert witness in cases involving the risk factors for false accusations and false confessions, and to date has consulted in more than 40 cases. Dr. Cutler has consulted and testified in criminal (juvenile and adult) and civil cases (human rights and accident cases), depositions, hearings regarding admissibility of expert testimony, motions to suppress eyewitness identifications and confessions, ineffectiveness of counsel hearings, post-conviction appeals, bench trials, and jury trials.

Brett L. Ward, CFI
Divisional Vice President of Client Relations and
Business Development
Wicklander Zulawski and Associates
Mr. Ward has led over 900 seminars on Interview & Interrogation Techniques for private, law enforcement and government entities. Mr. Ward, also a consultant for WZ has conducted hundreds of investigations throughout his career with WZ for both the public and private sectors. A frequently requested speaker, Brett has presented at over 80conferences in his 2+ decade career at WZ, including Eye for Retail – Europe, SHRM, NRF, RILA, FMI, ASIS, ACFE, RCC, HR Star and dozens of state level HR associations. He currently runs the Private Division for WZ, a responsibility including 240+ clients and 150+ contractual and open registration programs annually. Mr. Ward has extensive training in the government sector including such clients as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) where courses were taught at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.

Bryan Barlow, CFI
Training Coordinator & Instructor, Bureau of Detectives, Chicago Police Department

Bryan Barlow, CFI, joined the Chicago Police Department in 2002 and was promoted to Detective in 2008, where he conducted a wide variety of investigations around the city. Currently, Barlow serves as a training coordinator and instructor for the CPD’s Bureau of Detectives, where he has researched, written curriculum and delivered training to new officers, newly promoted detectives and in-service department members on investigatory topics such as interviewing Victims and Witnesses, Interrogation of Suspects and Trauma-Informed Interviewing, with a focus on interviewing sexual assault victims. Barlow holds a B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma and an M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago, and is a veteran of the U.S. Army. He will be presenting “When ‘Just the Facts’ Doesn’t Work – Trauma-Informed Interviewing” at Elite Training Days 2021. Trying to gather information from traumatized individuals can be difficult. Interviewing victims of street crime, workplace violence, someone who has been involved in a major accident or suffered a severe personal loss can often be frustrating, especially when the regular information-gathering: asking the who, what, when, where and why, doesn’t allow us to put together a complete picture. This difficulty stems from the effect traumas have on the brain of a trauma survivor. This segment will discuss how trauma affects the brain of an individual, and will discuss effective strategies to interview trauma survivors in a victim-centered, trauma-informed manner in order to obtain the best information available to aid in the conduct of investigations.