How a Police Officer With Multiple Shootings Got a Federal Training Contract

David S. Norman, a former Phoenix Police officer involved in at least four lethal shootings during his career, founded a training company in 2020 that later won federal contracts to teach Department of Homeland Security agents. His firm, TruKinetics LLC, received $27,748 to conduct 40-hour firearms training courses for DHS Special Response Teams at Fort Benning in Georgia, according to reporting from WIRED.

Norman retired from the Phoenix Police Department in 2020 after serving since the late 1990s. In a 2021 deposition, he testified that he had been involved in at least four lethal shootings and used language describing himself as "a fucking savage," remarks that have raised questions about his role training federal agents.

Who Got the Training

TruKinetics provided courses to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and worked with Arizona's Homeland Security Investigations Special Response Team. Training happened in both Arizona and at Fort Benning.

The Special Response Teams that received Norman's training are tactical units deployed for what federal agencies call enforcement operations. Critics describe these operations as militarized sweeps. These teams have been involved in confrontations with protesters during DHS operations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

The $27,748 contract is relatively small by federal standards. But it raises questions about how federal agencies check the backgrounds of people hired to train agents for high-stakes situations. The contract required TruKinetics to deliver a standardized 40-hour training course.

The Broader Pattern

Looking at this story against the backdrop of three decades covering federal security contracting, I see a familiar pattern. Federal agencies tend to seek trainers with real-world experience in lethal force situations — the reasoning being that officers who have survived high-stress encounters can better prepare others for the same. But this preference for battle-tested instructors has historically overshadowed careful background review, particularly in the years after 9/11 when agencies prioritized speed over traditional oversight.

What often happens in these cases is that smaller contracts — like the $27,748 paid to TruKinetics — fall below the threshold where enhanced scrutiny kicks in. An individual's credibility as an instructor, rather than a systematic review of their judgment or conduct, becomes the deciding factor.

The Cases and Controversy

Norman's Phoenix Police career included several controversial incidents. Police reports connect Norman and Officer Kristopher Bertz to an incident where Bertz was armed with a rifle during an unmarked vehicle operation.

The shooting of 19-year-old Jacob Harris by Phoenix police led to a lawsuit against the city. Civil rights attorney Steve Benedetto, who represented Harris's family, highlighted claims that a Phoenix police officer lied to a grand jury about the incident. Harris was with three other young people the night he was killed. The family's lawsuit argues that Harris was shot in the back, a central point in their claim of excessive force. Roland Harris, Jacob's father, has spoken publicly about the circumstances and investigation.

Why This Matters

The TruKinetics contract raises questions about how federal agencies find and vet tactical trainers while staying accountable. DHS Special Response Teams operate with considerable independence and often work in politically sensitive settings where their preparation and conduct get public attention.

Federal records show that TruKinetics was a single-person operation, with Norman as founder and primary instructor. While this structure is common for specialized consulting work, it means one person's approach and background shape the entire training program. In Norman's case, that background includes multiple lethal force incidents.

The broader context matters here: there is a clear pipeline of retired police officers who move into federal training roles after leaving local departments. This transition operates with minimal oversight of instructors' histories or teaching methods. In the years after 9/11, federal agencies prioritized rapid expansion of security capabilities, and that pattern of prioritizing speed over systematic review persists today, particularly for smaller contracts and specialized roles.

Federal law enforcement agencies are under increased scrutiny over their use of force and training standards. The deployment of these heavily armed federal teams in cities has raised concerns across administrations, with civil rights groups questioning both whether such units are necessary and whether they are properly trained.

DHS Special Response Teams are relatively new — designed to provide rapid response capacity for immigration enforcement and related security work. The training standards emphasize tactical skills, but the process for selecting instructors remains opaque to the public. Given the scale of specialized tactical training and the small number of instructors with relevant field experience, there is a limited supply of trainers and agencies often compete for their services.

The TruKinetics case highlights a tension that will likely grow as federal agencies expand specialized capabilities: how to recruit people with genuine operational experience while maintaining rigorous oversight of their conduct and judgment.