GRANITE STATE POLICE CAREER COUNSELING TRAINING STAFF

(email Joshua)

Deputy Chief Joshua Stokel has been a police officer for over twenty years.  He began his career with the Rochester, NH Police Department and joined the North Hampton, NH Police Department in 1999. 

During his career, Joshua has served as a Detective, DARE Instructor, a Forensic Interviewer of Abused Children, Hostage Negotiator, Drug Recognition Expert, Lethality Assessment Instructor, Rape Aggression Defense Instructor, and Field Training Officer.  From 2002 – 2004, Joshua was assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Meth Lab Enforcement Team.  He is currently the Deputy Chief of North Hampton PD.

In addition to his duties with the North Hampton Police Department, Joshua is an Adjunct Professor at Southern New Hampshire University.  He currently teaches master’s level courses. 

Joshua received his Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Plymouth State College. Joshua also holds a Master’s degree in Justice Studies with a focus on public administration from Southern New Hampshire University.

Nicole started her career in law enforcement with the Manchester, NH Police Department in 1996. She has held many positions with Manchester PD, to include patrolman, K-9 Officer, Detective, Sergeant and Lieutenant. Nicole is now retired and now works for the Granite State Children’s Alliance. Nicole has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Nicole’s passion is helping and being an advocate for the children of New Hampshire. She has investigated hundreds of cases involving juveniles, such as homicides, drug cases, juvenile delinquency, child abuse and human trafficking. Nicole is highly involved with state and region-wide child abuse prevention agencies and MPD internal support positions, such as the Executive Board of the Granite State Children’s Alliance, Advisory Board of Elliott Hospital’s Pediatric Center, Executive Board Manchester Police Athletic League, and the MPD Critical Incident Management/Peer Support Team. Nicole routinely speaks around the state on matters of juvenile delinquency and child abuse detection/prevention. She is a wealth of knowledge, insight & charisma, which makes her an outstanding instructor for our juvenile related classes.

Officer Phillip White began his career with the San Jose Police Department in 1997 after having worked as a Corrections Officer with the Santa Clara County (CA) Sheriff’s Office from 1995-1997. With the San Jose Police Department, Phillip White has served in Patrol, Youth Protection Team, FTO (two tours), Community Services Division as Program Manager and Instructor, Internal Affairs, TEAM Kids Program co-creator and facilitator, and Body Worn Camera Unit Lead Instructor and Equipment Specialist.

Phillip White is currently the San Jose Police Department’s Field Training Program’s Administrative Officer. His unit coordinates scheduling for over 80 FTOs and between 40 and 65 police recruit trainees while providing professional FTO informational support for agencies across the state and nation. He is a California P.O.S.T. certified Academy Instructor, Scenario Evaluator and Instructor of the California P.O.S.T. approved Field Training Officer’s Course.

Officer White has a B.S. in Criminal Justice and has presented at the National Association of Field Training Officers (NAFTO) national conference and teaches throughout the county, state, and country. An avid sports coach, White holds an M.S. in Exercise Science and an M.A. in Athletic Administration.

White is a USMC veteran having served as an M.P. (MOS 5811) with the 3rd MAW, MCAS El Toro, CA.

John Yerardi has 35 years of law enforcement experience. He began his police career with the Dover Police Department in New Hampshire in 1984 as a Patrol Officer and Field Training Officer and became certified as a police instructor in 1986. In 1987 he transferred to the Portsmouth, NH Police Department.

John worked in a variety of positions in Patrol, Investigations and Administration. He served as an investigator in the Sex Crimes Unit, Accident Investigation Team, Youth Services Division, General Investigations Division, Internal Affairs, and Personnel & Training Division. He commanded a number of specialized units during his career and established the department’s Honor Guard.

John spent many years in the Bureau of Investigative Services as a Detective, Sergeant and Lieutenant. He worked a multitude of major cases and death investigations during his career. He received more than a dozen commendations for his work.

John completed his full-time career as the Commander of the Personnel and Training Division where he established new training programs for officers. He was responsible for the hiring of all personnel and vetted thousands of applicants while coordinating the background investigation process.

After retiring, John has remained active in law enforcement maintaining a per diem position with the Portsmouth Police Department until 2019. He also held positions as a deputy sheriff with the Strafford County Sheriff’s Office for seven years and Training Coordinator for the Rochester Police Department for three years. In addition, John worked in executive protection and risk management for a company CEO as well as a presidential candidate during the 2012 U.S. Presidential Campaign.

John has conducted classes, lectures, presentations and seminars on criminal investigations, death investigations, crime scene response and processing, as well as background investigations and a variety of other topics for officers and organizations.

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He is also a graduate of the 204th session of the FBI National Academy.

Contact Information:
John M. Yerardi
yerardij@yahoo.com
Cell: 603-834-4982

James Sartell retired from the Hollis, New Hampshire Police Department as Chief of Police in 2017. While in Hollis, James served as the department’s prosecutor and Administrative Services Bureau Commander overseeing the department’s professional standards. Prior to his position in management, he served in several executive board capacities with AFSCME Local #3657 which at the time represented 24 public safety chapters in New Hampshire. He attended the AFSCME Council 93 Institute and earned several certificates from the Labor Guild School of Labor-Management Relations. James was hired by the Townsend Police Department as Deputy Chief of Police where he currently oversees operations and professional standards.

James serves on the Community Policing Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and presented at the 2017 Annual Conference on building trust through community engagement. He is a graduate of the 110th Police Academy, holds a Master of Criminal Justice degree from Boston University, is a member of FBI-LEEDA and has completed command leadership and executive training through Roger Williams Justice Studies programs. James serves as an adjunct instructor at NHTI, Southern New Hampshire University, New England College and Boston University.

James Maloney began his career with the Nashua Police Department in 1994 and retired with the rank of Captain in 2017. During his career with the Nashua Police Department, Jay served as the Commander of the Professional Standards Bureau, Legal Bureau and Uniform Field Operations Bureau. He was directly involved and responsible for the Internal Affairs function at NPD for several years of his career, reporting directly to the Chief of Police in this capacity.

Jay was hired by the Hollis Police Department in January of 2018 and currently serves as the Administrative Services Bureau Commander in a part time capacity. His responsibilities in Hollis concern recruiting, training, accreditation, supervision of detective and administrative personnel, and managing the IA function.

Jay is a graduate of the 103rd New Hampshire Police Academy and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Politics from Assumption College. He has attended numerous FBI LEEDA and Roger Williams Justice Studies courses and programs.

GSPCC’s Drug Interdiction Class is taught by Sergeant Christopher Sanders (Ret) of the Manchester Police Department.

Christopher was born and raised in Massachusetts. He began his career in law enforcement in 1998 when he was hired by the New York City Police Department. After graduation from the police academy, he was assigned to the Patrol Bureau of Brooklyn- North, 90th precinct in Williamsburg Brooklyn. In 2001, Chris returned to New England, accepting a position as a police officer with the Manchester Police Department.

For the past twenty years, Chris has been serving as a police officer in the largest city, north of Boston. In 2007, Chris was assigned to the Juvenile Division’s C.H.A.S.E. (Child Abuse and Sexual Exploitation) Unit where he was assigned to investigate crimes of abuse against children.

In 2010, Chris was assigned to the Community Policing Division acting as primary enforcement officer and community liaison for the Manchester Housing Development properties east.

In 2012, Chris was promoted to the rank of sergeant and re-assigned back to patrol as a supervisor.

In 2013, Chris was assigned to the Special Enforcement Division as the supervisor of the Street Crimes Unit, tasked with plain clothes enforcement of street level narcotics, vice and surveillance operations.

In 2017, Chris was assigned as supervisor of the Special Investigations Unit, overseeing undercover operations.

In 2020, Chris was re-assigned to the Investigations Division, Detective Unit. Chris’ primary role was oversight of criminal investigations and supervision of detectives.

During his twenty-three-year career, Chris has been a member if the Manchester Police SWAT Team as the Sniper Unit Leader (2003 to 2014) and served as a Firearms Instructor, Field Training Officer, Sniper Instructor and Defensive Tactics Instructor.

In 2021, Chris retired from the Manchester Police Department as a full- time police officer. Chris still holds his police certification serving the Manchester Police Department as a reserve officer, overseeing the defensive tactics program for the department.

Mike completed a 30-year career with the Cambridge Police Department where he rose through the ranks and retired as a Deputy Superintendent. After he left policing, he worked in executive management for Allied Universal Security Services overseeing operations for the Simon Malls and Bank of America.

A graduate of the FBI National Academy, Mike also attended Northwestern University’s command training for Crisis Negotiators and the Tools for Tolerance leadership training on racial profiling in California.  He is a graduate of Western New England College and received an MS in criminal justice from Anna Maria College.  Mike has worked with groups such as the Police Executive Research Forum on community problem solving techniques, as well as the Massachusetts Statewide initiatives on racial profiling in policing.  He was the department’s project manager for the new $50 million state of the art police headquarters in Cambridge.

Having grown up in Cambridge, he moved to Wilmington MA where he and his wife raised their two children.  He moved to Hampton NH in 2017 after vacationing there for years. He has performed training sessions with Granite State Police Career Counseling since 2019.

Prior to curriculum design, consulting, and becoming a College Professor, Chris was in law enforcement for twenty years in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and at the Federal Reserve Bank.  He retired as a Detective on July 1, 2017 after having been the recipient of several awards over the course of his career.  Chris was assigned to a statewide task force focusing upon Cybercrime in NH, and as a task force Officer for several federal agencies, including the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Secret Service, and the United States Marshals Service.  The office of the White House recognized his anti-opiate and anti-human trafficking efforts in 2018.  During his years in patrol, he was a Field Training Officer, Adjunct Academy Instructor, and Accident Reconstruction specialist.  For the last nine years of his career, Chris helped to design, staff, and manage two digital forensic laboratories in NH.  Chris has been conducting cybersecurity and digital forensic training since 2010.  

His completed coursework and certifications include the Seized Computer Evidence Recovery Specialist Program (S.C.E.R.S); and several courses at the National Computer Forensics Institute through the US Secret Service.  Chris currently holds the vendor-neutral International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners (ISFCE) Certified Computer Examiner (CCE) Certification and also holds three mobile device forensic certifications.  Chris completed an M.B.A concentrated on Information Technology Management in 2019.

Kevin J. DiNapoli graduated from Malden Catholic High School in 1991 before moving onto Saint Anselm College. While at Saint Anselm, Kevin was Vice President of the Pre-Law Society. Kevin was also selected to intern for the United Stated Department of State/Office of the Inspector General in Washington, DC. Kevin graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice.

In 1995, Kevin attended the part-time police academy prior to starting his career as a Stoneham, Massachusetts Auxiliary Police Officer. In 1996, Kevin was then hired by the Raymond, New Hampshire Police Department as a full-time police officer. While at the full-time New Hampshire Police Academy, Kevin graduated with a 96% GPA and received the “First Place Physical Fitness Award.”

IN 1998, Kevin moved onto a full-time position with the Hudson, New Hampshire Police Department. While in Hudson, Kevin worked as a detective, field training officer and crime scene technician. He received several awards to include: “Officer of the Year,” “Life-Saving with Valor” and “Looking Beyond the Traffic Ticket.” While moving up the ranks, Kevin too worked as a negotiator on the Southern New Hampshire Special Operations Unit for (11) years. Kevin also worked as the department’s CALEA accreditation manager beginning in 2005 and was directly involved with the program for his entire career.

In 2009, Kevin was also certified as a forensic polygraph examiner, having since conducted almost five hundred examinations. Prior to his retirement in Hudson, Kevin worked as a sergeant for (5) years, lieutenant for (6.5) years and a captain for his final (2) years.

In August of 2017, Kevin was hired as the Executive Officer/Deputy Chief for the Wenham, Massachusetts Police Department. As the second in command, Kevin worked as the court prosecutor, accreditation manager, internal affairs investigator and detective administrator. In May of 2021, Kevin took over as the Chief of Police in Wenham. He continues to work as an assessor for Massachusetts Accreditation and on the Massachusetts Accreditation Standards Review Committee.

Throughout his career, Kevin has taught and continues to teach numerous classes on leadership, polygraph examinations, interviews and interrogations, crime scene processing and law enforcement accreditation. Kevin also continues to work for several companies to assist in promotional processes, background investigations, risk assessments and internal affairs investigations.

Captain Christopher J. Gandia, retired from the Londonderry, New Hampshire, Police Department (LPD), formerly assigned as the division commander for the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. His career encompassed 25+ years of law enforcement experience and 29 years of financial experience. Interwoven career paths of finance and law enforcement created unique opportunities and experiences for him. He currently works as a Senior Research Associate for Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) and teaches under the VALOR and SAFLEO programs to promote officer safety and wellness to agencies across the country.

After earning his degree in 1993, Captain Gandia turned to law enforcement in 1996, when he began his career with the LPD as a patrol officer. He also served as a sergeant, lieutenant and, recently retired in 2022 as captain. His career has included various tasks such as fiscal management, budgetary planning, internal auditing, organizational development, strategic planning, departmental training programs, and personnel leadership initiatives. In addition, from 1999 to 2014, he served on the Southern New Hampshire Regional SWAT Team.

Captain Gandia’s prior experience includes Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLC, as an external auditor, and Zoom Telephonics, Inc. as a financial analyst. He also performed as a lead instructor for the National Sheriffs’ Association and the National Domestic Preparedness Coalition.

Captain Gandia earned a bachelor of science degree in accountancy from Providence College, a certificate in financial planning from Merrimack College, and his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation in 2003.

Dr. Ruben Quesada was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1995, Ruben was hired full-time with the Mesa, Arizona Police Department where he ascended to the rank of Police Commander.

Ruben retired from Mesa PD, after 25 years to become the Deputy Chief of Police at Northern Essex Community College PD.

In March 2022, Ruben was sworn in as the Swampscott, MA Chief of Police. Ruben completed his Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.

He teaches Criminal Justice at the university level. Ruben is a staunch advocate and lifelong learner of police leadership and community policing. He and his family live on the North Shore in Massachusetts.

Commissioner Hanks has been a part of the NH Department of Corrections team since 2003. In 2014, she was then confirmed by the State’s Executive Council to the position of Assistant Commissioner for the NH Department of Corrections.

A key area of her success in this capacity was the successful coordination with all parties to design, bid, and construct a new women’s prison. As Commissioner, confirmed in 2017, she led the organization successfully through the COVID-19 pandemic implementing safe practices for staff within facilities and working in our NH communities.

She possesses a BS in Psychology-Plymouth State and a master’s degree in management concentrating in Healthcare Policy, from Brandeis University.