Lt. Chris Collins (Ret.) graduated from University of Illinois with a degree in Criminology and began his law enforcement career with the Kane County Sheriff’s Office in 1990 as an Auxiliary Deputy. In 1993 he attended the Police Training Institute at University of Illinois where he graduated first in his class and was awarded the Clifford Van Meeter Award for academic excellence. Over his 32 years in law enforcement Chris has served in most every conceivable capacity at the Sheriff’s Office including patrol, investigations, civil process, community policing, and administration. He has served as a FTO, SWAT, Traffic Enforcement, and Negotiations Response Team Officer. He holds numerous professional certifications and graduated from Northwestern’s School of Police Staff and Command in 2009. He has supervised patrol, investigations, civil process, and the Office of Professional Standards as both a Sergeant and Lieutenant. Chris enjoys teaching and speaking, and is certified by the State of Illinois as an instructor for Crisis Intervention, Instructor Development, and Crime Scene Investigation. His speaking credits include numerous local and regional organizations, as well as the Illinois State NAMI Conference. In May of 2022 Chris retired from the Sheriff’s Office to focus on teaching full time. He is passionate about developing, empowering, and helping Officers realize and reach their full potential to become leaders at home, work, and in the communities where they serve.

Heather Hansen served 27 years with the Illinois State Police. Eleven of those years as a crime scene investigator across the south suburbs of Chicago. She was the Crime Scene Investigator on over 1200 Crime Scenes and the Lead CSI on 275 Homicides. Heather received the Department's Medal of Achievement for creating the State of Illinois 5-week Crime Scene Investigator's Curriculum. Heather achieved the rank of Lieutenant in her 27 year career with the I.S.P. Heather completed her career as the Patrol Lieutenant and Operations Officer over 4 Northwest Counties of Illinois and a Hostage and Crisis Negotiator on the State Police Northern Swat Team. After retirement in 2022, Heather and her Husband founded a police training company called Blue Line Training and Development. The company trains law enforcement professionals across the State of Illinois and currently works with 6 of the Mobile Training Units.