Tony Pustizzi Chief Tony Pustizzi (retired) began his career with the Coral Springs Police Department in 1988. Over his 30-year tenure, he supervised every unit within the agency, emphasizing investigations, including homicide and special victims. Tony served on the SWAT team for 15 years, and in the last eight, he was team commander. Tony rose through the ranks to ultimately become chief of police in 2012. He also served as the city’s interim city manager and retired in March 2018 as the chief of police/deputy city manager. In January 2019, Tony came out of retirement to serve as the special counsel to the new sheriff of Broward County upon his appointment by the governor of the state of Florida. During the school massacre on February 14, 2018, where a former student entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and killed 17 innocent people and injured another 17 students, Chief Pustizzi, along with members of his agency, arrived at the school within minutes of being notified and was instrumental in organizing a complex law enforcement approach, including stopping and capturing the killer and extracting victims from within the school was initiated. Dr. Eric Hall Dr. Eric Hall has more than two decades of experience in executive leadership, with significant expertise in education, youth development, and juvenile justice. In November 2021, Dr. Eric Hall was appointed Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Before this role, he was appointed in March 2019 by then Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran to serve as the state’s first Chancellor for Innovation and Senior Chancellor, where he oversaw the divisions of K-12 Public Schools, the Florida College System, Career and Adult Education, Vocational Rehabilitation, Blind Services, the Office of Safe Schools, and the Office of Early Learning. Dr. Hall serves on several boards and councils, including the Florida Children and Youth Cabinet, CareerSource Florida Board of Directors, and Special Olympics Florida, and previously served as chair of the Florida State Advisory Council on Early Learning.
Dr. Hector R. Garcia Associate Dean, Southern New Hampshire University Global Campus, Criminal Justice Programs Afternoon Plenary Speaker - Friday, July 21, 11:30 am
 Hector R. Garcia is a 35-year law enforcement, security, and education professional. He holds a doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration. Dr. Garcia oversees the graduate criminal justice programs at Southern New Hampshire University and several projects, including professional development programming with the FBINA and the US federal government. Dr. Garcia has previously served as the Director of the School of Justice for Miami Dade College (Fl). As Director of the School of Justice, Dr. Garcia was responsible for the leadership of the law enforcement, fire, corrections, and private security training and certification programs, international public safety programming, the college-wide criminal justice, and environmental sciences academic programs (Associate and Bachelor’s levels), and the law enforcement and fire science assessment center. He has also served as a Chief of Police on three separate occasions. Dr. Garcia has worked with numerous international partners in developing public safety and security initiatives, leadership development, strategic planning, community policing, and law enforcement administration programming. Dr. Garcia has partnered with the US Department of State as a Police Advisor in Africa and Central America to further democratic policing principles and the rule of law implementation in these regions. He has completed numerous deployments and missions to these regions where his original programs have enjoyed great success and acceptance. Dr. Garcia has delivered presentations globally on leadership, public safety, and contemporary social sciences themes. |
