Steve is the 2nd longest employee at TASER International behind CEO, Rick Smith, where he began on the startup team in February 1994 ago in Scottsdale, AZ.
He is TASER’s spokesman, oversees public relations, public affairs, crisis management, social media, and brand reputation/management. His expertise is in crisis management, strategic communications, risk management, law enforcement issues, and has extensive government affairs experience on Capitol Hill prior to and during his career at TASER.
As the company spokesman and on the frontlines of controversy and technology breakthroughs for law enforcement, he has extensive worldwide media relations experience that rivals Fortune 100 companies based on the sheer number of thousands of interviews done during the past two decades (currently logging in more than an average of 1000 media interviews a year).
Steve speaks at TASER Technology Summits and TASER Master Instructor Schools and is a frequent panelist for the Bulldog Reporter College (for public relations issues). He speaks about crisis, media training and being proactive using real-world techniques. One of his main focus areas is that law enforcement can and should get out in front of the media where transparency and accountability rule the day to prevent a vacuum of information. This can be applied not only to crisis situations but to inform communities when agencies roll out new programs, equipment or technology.
His teachings are somewhat unorthodox as the typical client is a public entity or government agency that isn’t a for profit venture. While this has not been a traditional method for all governmental agencies, news that occurs at the speed of business and the ever increasingly powerful social media tools, law enforcement needs to match the methods of today’s media and outside stakeholders – especially when TASER is an issue, controversy or being introduced in a new country.
His top priority is to demystify and enhance the public’s knowledge of the benefits of TASER’s products (both TASER Smart Weapons and the AXON body-worn cameras), respond to media requests, and quite often to handle numerous inquiries that the sales, training, or customer service departments don’t know the answers to as he is considered the “TASER librarian.” These are often the speed bumps that prevent a sale, create controversy and/or approval of TASER products. Behind the scenes, he mentors and motivates TASER employees with his tribal knowledge and TASER cultural teachings.
Prior to TASER, he lived in Washington, DC and often worked at the Embassy of Tokyo where he was a Foreign Military Sales defense contractor for the licensed production program to build Mk 46 torpedoes in Japan. Prior to that he served as a Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator Slade Gorton (WA-R) working on commerce and defense issues. He also worked at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association in research and policy analysis, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the Fund for American Studies at Georgetown University. He attended the University of Arizona as a fourth generation Wildcat and the Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University.
In addition to his startup experience at TASER International in 1994, Steve is also the lead minority owner of the 2014 startup of Mother Bunch Brewing in downtown Phoenix.