Dan Champness

Dan Champness currently serves as Senior Police Officer for a large Southern California Police Department. He has been a member of the SWAT team since 2009 and is currently serving as Team Leader.

His duties as a Team Leader include planning and executing complex high risk warrants, barricades, hostage rescue operations, dignitary protection, WMD/CBRNE events and rural operations (marijuana garden eradication and fugitive tracking). He was previously assigned for two years to an undercover unit made up of SWAT officers dedicated to tracking and apprehending violent fugitives. This assignment required extensive physical, vehicle, aerial and electronic surveillance. During this assignment Mr. Champness was tasked with planning and executing extensive surveillance and takedown operations on drug traffickers, gang members and fugitives wanted for violent felonies. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Champness was assigned for three years to a Joint Federal Task Force where he worked as an undercover officer conducting undercover narcotics and firearms purchases, writing and participating in Title III investigations, as well as conducting physical and vehicle surveillance throughout the Eastern District of California of high profile criminals.

Mr. Champness serves as the senior tactics and fire arms instructor for his department and is certified as a range master and chemical agent instructor through California Police Officer Standards and Training. He is a member of the California Association of Tactical Officers and has trained numerous officers from surrounding jurisdictions in active shooter response and CQB. He is currently working on his master’s degree in counter-terrorism and strategic security from Henley-Putnam University.