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Retired Sergeant Stephen Wamsley has 39 years of law enforcement training and experience with the City of Phoenix Police Department and Reserve Division. He fully retired in 2019. He has supervised officers and civilian personnel for 25 years as a senior sergeant.  Sgt. Wamsley's knowledge, skills, and abilities include situational awareness, supervision of narcotics, prostitution, threat assessments, problem-solving, reduction in violent crime for neighborhoods, and auto theft operations along with property crime investigations. 

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After retiring in 2015, he continued instructing CCW classes and firearms.  For the last 8 years, he has been teaching CCW as well as Situational Awareness classes all over the valley. He is an NRA instructor and instructs students on Arizona State Laws on the Use of Force, and the application of such laws.

 

Sergeant Wamsley has experienced several critical incidents in his career and has been involved in multiple “line of duty shootings.”  As a result of his experiences, he was able to assist in establishing the first Critical Incident Stress Management Team for the Phoenix Police Department. When he retired, he transferred to the Reserve Division and was assigned to the Employee Assistance Unit where he handled retirees’ memorials and the logistics for the families.

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Sergeant Wamsley is an Arizona POST instructor, training law enforcement within the police academy for 35 years. His specialty is Stress/Crisis Management, delivering a dynamic presentation for newly appointed police officers. Other topics of instruction include mental illness; post-shooting stress and problem-solving.

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Sergeant Wamsley developed and instructs a Health and Wellness Stress-Crisis Management presentation to police groups, the private sector, and citizens within the community.

He holds a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University and a BA from Ottawa University in Labor Management. Sgt Wamsley developed and CTE Police Science Course for a High School District in the north valley where he wrote the curriculum and was the lead instructor for 12 years.