Darron Sparks Anderson, IN Police Department Email: dsparks@daddac.com
Darron has been a police officer since 1984. During his years of service he has served as Assistant Chief, patrol officer, patrol sergeant, and 10 year SWAT Team member. He currently serves as a Detective for his department and is a state certified firearms and use of force instructor. Darron also has instructor certificates in patrol carbine, and is a physical fitness and wellness instructor for his department. In 1995, Darron was shot in the line of duty and was awarded the department combat cross and purple heart. For this incident, he was also named the 1995 "Police Officer of the Year" for Madison County. A survivor of many armed encounters, Darron places great emphasis on officer safety and proper tactics training and provides ultra realistic deadly force encounter training scenarios for officers at DAD/DAC seminars.
Capt. Benny Diggs Marion Co, IN Sheriff's Department Email: bdiggs@daddac.com
Benny is a Vietnam veteran, having served in the United States Army. Benny has been with the Marion County Sheriff's Department for 33 years. In 1978 he joined the K9 Section of the department and soon established himself as an innovator in K9 tactics and training methods. In 1984, Benny was a member of the American Police Dog Team competing in Stukenbrock, Germany at the World Police Dog Trials. Benny now serves as the department's SWAT and K9 Commander. Benny is a survivor of many police actions shootings and armed encounters and takes great pride in teaching officer safety and tactics at DAD/DAC training seminars.
Kevin Banker Anderson, IN Fire Department Email: kbanker@daddac.com
Kevin brings a very interesting perspective to the directorship of our organization. Kevin formerly served with the U.S. Navy as a member of Naval Special Warfare. During his tenure, he served in Seal Teams One, Six and the elite Red Cell unit. Later Kevin served as a reservist with Seal Team Four and Eight. After leaving the Navy, Kevin attended Ball State University and received his degree in exercise science. Kevin is an emergency medial technician with the Anderson Fire Department. He also has served as dive team leader and is a past member of the Indiana National Guard and currently serves as a Navy Reservist. Kevin provides tactical and officer safety training at our seminars.
Wendell Nope Utah Police Academy, Salt lake City, Utah Email: wnope@daddac.com
Wendell has served in law enforcement for over 33 years. He currently is the police service dog training supervisor for the Utah Police Academy. Wendell also serves as the U.S. Delegate to the International Congress of Police Service Dog Handlers. He was the first American officer accepted to the famous Landespolizeischule fuer Diensthundfuehrer in Germany, one of the premier police K9 training schools in the world. He is recognized as an expert witness on police dogs in federal courts and numerous state courts. Wendell trained K9s for the Winter Olympics, where he and officers worked security for the games. Wendell is responsible for training curriculum development for the members of our association and serves as a core instructor at our training seminars.
