LEAD INSTRUCTOR
Sergeant Rick Wagner (Ret), Garden Grove PD
Rick Wagner served 33 years with the Garden Grove Police Department in Garden Grove, California.
During his career, he had many special assignments, including K-9, field training, narcotics/vice, homicide, FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, and mounted.
His mounted assignments included civil unrest, professional sports events, stadium concerts, amusement parks, presidential protection details and various festivals.
Rick is a California POST (Peace Officer’s Standards & Training) Certified Mounted Instructor, and has also assisted departments in starting mounted enforcement units.
As Sergeant, he was assigned to the patrol division. In addition, he also supervised the Mounted Enforcement Unit (MEU), Terrorism Liaison Officer (TLO) Program, Resort Services Unit and the Orange County Mental Health Program. The GGPD MEU is part of the Orange County Regional Mounted Enforcement Unit (OCRMEU), which is a multi agency collaborative effort between the Anaheim PD, Buena Park PD, GGPD, Santa Ana PD, Newport Beach PD, Huntington Beach PD and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Rick has worked Mounted assignments throughout Orange County as part of this unit. Those assignments include civil unrest, Angels and Ducks games, Concerts at Anaheim Stadium, Halloween Haunt, Presidential Protection Details and various festivals and events.
Rick has instructed at two Basic Police Mounted Schools hosted by OCRMEU, five (three Basic and two Update) Police Mounted Schools hosted by Western States Mounted Officers Association, OCRMEU monthly trainings, and a Sheriff Mounted training in Los Angeles County. He has been the Lead Instructor and wrote the curriculum for the Instructor class for the Western States Mounted Officers Association for the last 10 years. He has assisted the new departments of Newport Beach PD MEU start up in 2013 and Huntington Park PD MEU and Huntington Beach PD MEU start up their units in 2014.
Rick has served three years on the California Mounted Officers Association – Board of Directors and has served as Secretary two of those three years. Rick has one year remaining on his board position which ends in December 2015. Rick was the Chairman the 2012 CMOA Annual Conference in Norco and the 2014 CMOA Annual conference in Newport Beach.
Rick retired at the end of 2013, but remained on the GGPD Mounted Enforcement Unit as a Master Reserve Officer until February 2015.
He has lectured nationally and internationally on a variety of topics to a large cross section of people. Equine specifically he has lectured to the Western States Mounted Officers Association, Norco High FFA, Norco Mounted Posse, Norco Horsemen’s Association, and the Norco Junior Horsemen’s Association on Mounted Police work and how police horses are trained.