A.J. DeAndrea began his career with the Arvada, Colorado Police Department in 1993, retiring as Deputy Chief from APD in 2023. During his time there he served as a member of the Jefferson County Regional SWAT Team from 1996 to 2012 – a collateral duty team where he was a Team Leader. The majority of his career was spent on patrol but he also spent 2 years as the Sergeant of the Internal Affairs Unit and 4 years as the Sergeant in the Community Response Impact Team (CRIT) and was also an Operations Commander. As Deputy Chief, he over saw both the Field and Operations divisions of the Arvada Police Department.
DeAndrea is a lead instructor for the NTOA’s Team Leader Development Course, a lead instructor in the NTOA’s Command College, a Master Less Lethal
Instructor, a Colorado and Alaskan POST certified instructor. He teaches Leadership, Officer Survival, Building Searches, Rapid and Immediate Deployment (RAID), Enhanced Active Shooter Strategies, Single Officer Response to an Active Shooter, SWAT, SWAT Team Leader Development, Defensive Tactics and Firearms as well as many other disciplines. He was formally certified in Explosive Breaching.
DeAndrea graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1990, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree. He is a graduate of the Northwestern School of Police Staff and Command, Class 504 as well as the FBI National Academy Session 283.
DeAndrea has received 6 Medals for Valor, 4 Medals for Distinguished Service, 2 Medals for Meritorious Service, 2 unit citations and numerous commendations. From 2006 to 2010, he was honored as the “Police Officer of the Year” through the Primo Awards. In 2007, he also received an Honorable Mention for Police Officer of the Year through the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Parade Magazine. In 2014, he received the John Kolman Award of Excellence from the National Tactical Officers Association. Also in 2014, he received the Colorado Attorney General’s Excellence in Law Enforcement Award. This award is given to only one Law Enforcement Officer a year by the Colorado Attorney General. In 2015, he was inducted
into the Colorado’s Italian American Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was recognized as the City of Arvada Employee of the Year for Service to the Community.
DeAndrea has instructed all over the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Sweden. Some of those venues have been the FBI Headquarters in
Washington DC, the IACP Annual Conference in both Denver, CO and Chicago, IL, the Rocky Mountain Tactical Team Association, the Texas Tactical Police Officer Association, the Missouri Tactical Police Officer’s Association and the New York Tactical Police Officer’s Association. He is an instructor for the National Tactical Officer’s Association and does numerous AAR of the incidents he’s been involved in. He is a member of the advisory board for the I Love You Guys Foundation. In 2009, he provided instruction at the Police Improvement Facility in Bramshill, United Kingdom and in 2010, he was the International Key Note Speaker at the ACPO Conference in London, England. In 2012 to 2014 and 2017 to 2021, he instructed in Vancouver, Canada. In
2015-2017 and in 2019, he instructed in Ontario, Canada. In 2018, he spoke in both Regina and Calgary, Canada. In 2017 and 2020 he instructed in Winnipeg, Manitoba and in 2022 Quebec City, Quebec. He was recently recognized as a Subject Matter Expert on Active Shooters by the US Department of Education. In 2013, he spoke in the Kennedy Caucus Hearing Room in Washington, DC and participated in a conference call with the Vice President of the United States Joe Biden. In June of 2018, he met with the Attorney General of the United States-Jeff Sessions. He is the owner and CEO of Centurio
Training and Consulting LLC.
DeAndrea was an Entry Team Leader at Columbine High School on the first sweep of the building and a Team Leader during the Bulldozer Incident in Granby, CO. He helped devise and execute the tactical plan for the Hostage Rescue at Platte Canyon High School in September 2006. Again in 2006, he was the Team Leader during an Officer Rescue where a deputy was pinned down by gunfire and was rescued without injury. In 2007, he was the Patrol Supervisor and Patrol Entry Team Leader during the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) active shooting. Most recently, while working with the CRIT unit, he received his 6th Medal of Valor for helping to physically subdue an armed violent kidnapping suspect in a stairwell.
