D.M. Blake, DOE Special Response Team, Lawrence Livermore, 1998
DOE Special Response Team · Lawrence Livermore · 1998
The author

I studied this because I lived it.

For more than twenty-five years, I have worn a uniform, from Air Force deployments to Saudi Arabia and Somalia, to a federal Special Response Team charged with the recapture and recovery of special nuclear material, to more than a decade policing the San Francisco Bay Area: patrol, SWAT, and use-of-force instruction.

A duty injury took me off the street in 2014. I did not leave the work, I went deeper into it: training officers across six states, teaching in California police academies, serving as adjunct criminal justice faculty, and earning a master’s and a doctorate in psychology, the doctorate with a performance emphasis, chasing one question. Why do good, well-trained officers come apart in the seconds that matter?

Today I run Blake Consulting & Training. In more than a hundred cases I have been retained to analyze use-of-force incidents, including officer-involved shootings, and I have testified as an expert witness, judicially accepted, cross-examined, held to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and the Daubert standard. That is the bar behind every claim in the book.

Hardwired to Survive is the book I wish I had, from someone who has stood where you stand and can back it with the science.

LinkedIn ↗Police1 author page ↗

100+Expert engagements
27+Years in the field
1,000+Officers trained
PhDPerformance psychology
The record

A life in uniform.

2015 – Present
Founder & Principal Consultant
Blake Consulting & Training
Expert witness and litigation consulting on use-of-force, human factors, and forensic video, for prosecution, plaintiff, and defense nationwide.
2014 – 2020
Lead Instructor
Human Performance Training Institute
Delivered POST-certified human-factors training to 1,000+ officers, attorneys, and risk managers across six states.
2014 – 2020
Regional Training Center Instructor
Alameda County Sheriff’s Office
Force-options simulator instruction: constitutional standards, officer safety, tactics, and use of force in a stress-based environment.
2014 – 2020
Adjunct Professor & POST Academy Instructor
Las Positas College · San Joaquin Delta College
Criminal justice faculty and academy instructor for use of force, firearms, and scenario evaluation.
2002 – 2014
Police Officer
Livermore Police Department
Patrol, criminal investigations, and specialized assignments, SWAT, narcotics, gang enforcement, field training, plus use-of-force instruction for sworn personnel.
2000 – 2002
Police Officer
Bay Area Rapid Transit Police
Multi-jurisdictional transit policing, patrol, and criminal investigations.
1998 – 2000
DOE Security Police · Special Response Team
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Federal contract law enforcement protecting Category-1 special nuclear materials; special response team member.
1990 – 1997
Command and Control Specialist
United States Air Force
Deployed to Saudi Arabia and Somalia; command-and-control operations in forward and contingency environments.
Education & credentials

The science is real, and cited.

Education

PhD, Psychology (Performance Emphasis)
Grand Canyon University, 2020
Dissertation: A Systems-Based Exploration of Police Mistake-of-Fact Shootings in the United States
MSc, Psychology
Kaplan University (now Purdue University Global), 2014
Thesis: Factoring Fatigue into Police Deadly Force Encounters, Decision-Making and Reaction Times
BSc, Criminal Justice Management
Union Institute & University, 2010
All degrees from institutions accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Instructor & specialist certifications

POST Academy Instructor POST Firearms Instructor POST Defensive Tactics Instructor Force Options Simulator Instructor Officer-Involved Shooting Investigator (ICI) Field Training Officer SWAT Axon TASER Instructor Reality-Based Training Instructor Certified Forensic Video Technician (LEVA) Amped FIVE Certified Examiner
Selected. Certifications without an expiration are lifetime credentials.

Professional memberships

  • Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES)
  • International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
  • Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS)
  • Association of Force Investigators (AFI)
  • California Force Instructors Association (CFIA)
  • Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA)
Selected publications

Peer-reviewed, not just opinion.

  • Blake, D.M., Suss, J., Wolfe, D., & Arsal, G. (2023). “Curb sitting”: An evidence-based policing practice or an officer safety myth? Police Practice and Research, 24(5), 552–568.
  • Scott, D.D., Blake, D.M., & Suss, J. (2023). Examining the use of interactive video-based simulators in law enforcement human performance research: A scoping review. Journal of Experimental Criminology.
  • Desmoulin, G.T., Nolette, M.A., & Blake, D.M. (2025). Multi-disciplinary approach to a use of force investigation: Case study. International Journal of Forensic Engineering, 5(3), 189–208.
  • Blake, D.M., Suss, J., & Guler, A. (in preparation). Reaction beats action? Evaluating the gunslinger effect under Daubert standards for police use-of-force expert testimony.

Plus trade authorship in Police1 and other law-enforcement outlets on force investigations, human factors, and digital evidence.

The book

This is the science behind it.

Everything here is what Hardwired to Survive puts in your hands: the biology of the worst calls, and what you can train to do about it.

Get the free kit →