Strength Through Adversity

Name: Strength Through Adversity
Start: 2026-05-07T09:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-05-07T17:00:00-04:00
Location: Bergen County Police Fire Ems Academy

Schedule

Thu May 07 2026 at 09:00 am to 05:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Bergen County Police Fire Ems Academy | Mahwah, NJ

The Bergen County Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is excited to offer a one-day training - Strength Through Adversity - for Law Enforcement/First Responders and Mental Health Professionals. Please see below for training & registration information.
Meet Our Presenters:
Bill Mazur is a 25-year law enforcement veteran who retired in 2017 at the rank of Deputy Chief of Police. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Stockton University and a Master's Degree in Police Graduate Studies from Seton Hall University.
A graduate of the FBI National Academy (Session #256), Bill also served as a Master Instructor with the FBI National Academy Associates, contributing to their Comprehensive Officer Resiliency Training Program. Additionally, he serves as a Liaison for the New Jersey State Resilience Program for Law Enforcement.
In 2017, Bill co-founded a nationally recognized first responder outreach team, where he spent nearly a decade supporting the behavioral health needs of first responders by connecting them to vetted, culturally competent treatment resources.
In 2025, he launched a new venture to expand this mission supporting not only first responders but their families as well. Through his consulting group, Sentinel Resilience Solutions, where he serves as Co-Founder and Chief Resiliency Officer, Bill is working to develop a gold-standard treatment protocol blueprint aimed at improving both the quality of care and access to clinically appropriate resources for the first responder community.
Joe Collins is a 35-year law enforcement veteran retiring at the rank of Chief of Police. He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy (FBINA) session 236 and was the 2015-2016 President of the Wisconsin FBI National Academy Association. He served as the President of the Wisconsin SWAT Association and served 13 years on their board of directors He is a Master Instructor in both the United States Air Force - Comprehensive Airmen Resiliency Train-the-Trainer Program and FBI National Academy Association’s Comprehensive Officer Resiliency Train-the-Trainer program. He has trained thousands of officers throughout the United States and Internationally.
Mr. Collins was selected by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Wisconsin Attorney General as the 2015 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for the State of Wisconsin. He also serves as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice as a subject matter expert in Officer Resilience.
In 2025, he launched a new venture to expand this mission—supporting not only first responders but their families as well. Through his consulting firm, Sentinel Resilience Solutions, where he serves as Co-Founder and Chief Resiliency Officer, Joe is working to develop a gold-standard treatment protocol blueprint aimed at improving both the quality of care and access to clinically appropriate resources for the first responder community.
Josh Vadell is a dedicated father, 10-year veteran of the Atlantic City Police Department, and founder of The Josh Vadell Foundation, which supports families of officers critically injured in the line of duty. In 2016, Josh survived a life-threatening gunshot while on duty, an event that tested his resilience and shaped his leadership philosophy. Through his personal journey of recovery and perseverance, he exemplifies the power of growth, resilience, and community impact, inspiring others through his story of courage and transformative leadership.
Jen Velten graduated John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2015 with an MA in Forensic Mental Health Counseling and became a Licensed Professional Counselor in 2019. She is licensed in the State of New Jersey with 11 years of experience working with youth, families, trauma survivors and first responders in the mental health field. Jen has extensive training on trauma treatment modalities. She has been trained in Prepare/Enrich, TF-CBT, Somatic Experiencing, ARC, and most recently became an EMDR consultant. Jen is a trained trauma informed specialist and is certified in PFA and YMHFA. Jen is additionally a graduate of Crisis Intervention Training in Bergen County. Jen has focused her expertise on helping children and adults to overcome complex trauma experiences as well as work with the LGBTQ+ community. Jen is the Coordinator for the Bergen County Traumatic Loss Coalition (TLC), a member of the Bergen County Crisis Negotiation Team, and a Disaster Response Crisis Counselor. Jen is a professional trainer and provides seminars and consultation services on vital mental health topics to help improve social and emotional functioning. Jen was additionally an adjunct professor of Social Psychology for Ramapo College of New Jersey for 4 years.
Kimberly (Kim) Perez-Lucero is a Licensed Associate Counselor in the state of New Jersey with 3 years of experience working with clients and communities in the aftermath of trauma. Kim is a therapist and trainer at the Center for Trauma Services at Care Plus where she provides bilingual trauma-focused treatment for clients and families. Kim has training on trauma treatment modalities for youth such as TF-CBT and EMDR. Kim is a Connections Matter NJ Facilitator, Question/Persuade/Refer (QPR) trainer, member of the Bergen County Crisis Negotiation Team and certified Disaster Response Crisis Counselor (DRCC). Kim is additionally a graduate of Crisis Intervention Training in Bergen County. She volunteers for the Bergen and Passaic County Traumatic Loss Coalition (TLC). Kim provides workshops and seminars on various mental health topics to help improve social and emotional functioning for youth. She has focused her expertise on helping communities and families from varying racial and ethnic backgrounds to overcome traumatic experiences.
Janice Campbell was uniquely qualified to create and lead the Tri-State Canine Response Team. She has extensive training and experience in both the mental health field and therapy dog work. Her background includes providing direct service in the mental health field for more than 22 years as well as providing therapy dog visits and testing/observing therapy dog teams for more than 20 years.
Janice’s certifications and responsibilities are many. On the human side, in addition to providing all of the administrative oversight for Tri-State, Janice is a Disaster Relief Crisis Counselor (DRCC), Lead Team member of the Traumatic Loss Coalition (TLC), trained in Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) and is an instructor for (QPR) suicide prevention training. On the canine side, she has been a tester and observer for the Alliance of Therapy Dogs as well as the American Kennel Club for more than 15 years. Janice actively instructs canine therapy dog classes at a local dog training center and oversees the provision of services for all Tri-State Canine Response Teams.
Knowing the healing benefits of the canine/human connection, Janice founded Tri-State in 2015 to provide a standardized level of service and training for therapy dog visits and canine crisis response. She remains president of the all-volunteer organization that has grown from five local handler/dog teams to 108 teams serving fifty states across the United States and internationally in Italy. Her most recent major accomplish was getting Tri-State’s procedures internationally certified through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Janice’s continues to enjoy providing therapy dog visits and crisis response services with her Golden Retriever canine companions, Logan and Eliana.