Instructor Biography

Brian Nanavaty (retired)

Captain Brian Nanavaty (retired) served with the Indianapolis, Indiana, Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) for 33 years. In 2010, he created the groundbreaking IMPD Office of Professional Development and Wellness. The IMPD program and Captain Nanavaty were credited with inspiring the U.S. Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act of 2017. Upon retirement in 2017, Captain Nanavaty continued to instruct employees, executives, union officials, insurance providers, and clinicians in personal and career survival for the Department of Justice, the VALOR for Blue and National Suicide Awareness for Law Enforcement Officers Programs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Dolan Consulting Group. He has presented at all major conferences including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Employee Assistance Professionals Association, and was a headline presenter at the 2017 National Crime Summit. Additionally, he was a police wellness consultant for the television show Law and Order SVU in 2019. Captain Nanavaty previously served on the FBI National Academy Associates Wellness Committee and the Fraternal Order of Police Safety and Wellness Committee. There, he designed a training portal for members and helped create an alcohol and mental health treatment and recovery network for first responders and families. Captain Nanavaty was a member of the Critical Incident Stress Management working group for the IACP Policy Center, and the Police Executive Research Forum SME on police wellness issues. In 2015, Captain Nanavaty received the inaugural Destination Zero Valor Award from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. In 2016, in addition to appearing in front of the
U.S. Congress on issues of officer wellness, he was a finalist for the prestigious IACP Officer of the Year Award. In 2016, the White House sent U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to meet with Captain Nanavaty as part of the President’s Task Force on 21^st Century Policing where Lynch stated “Captain Nanavaty’s officer and agency wellness program in Indianapolis should be the model for law enforcement across the U.S.” In 2016, Captain Nanavaty and IMPD were awarded the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)/Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Microgrant for Officer Safety and Wellness. In 2019, Nanavaty’s work at IMPD was part of the 11 successful agency case studies summarized in the Department of Justice’s “Report to Congress” and in the New York Police Department commissioner’s “Officer Wellness Review.” Captain Nanavaty attended Franklin College in Indiana, Drew University in New Jersey, and the University of Virginia. He is a graduate of the 255th session of the FBI National Academy, Quantico, Virginia. From 1994–2003 he was adjunct professor of criminal justice at Indiana and Purdue Universities.