Tennessee State Chapter
Events
Leadership
Joel Trask
LEDA Instructor | LEDA Steering Team Member |LEDA Tennessee State Chapter President
Joel Trask has been an active law enforcement officer since 2010. Prior to his law enforcement career, he worked in the Information Technology field as a technical support/network support specialist for approximately 10 years, the final 3 years of which he was employed by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
In 2010, he began a 12-year career with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he worked patrol and a variety of other assignments. In 2015, he was assigned to a specialized Gang Enforcement unit where he became a court-certified gang expert. His duties included planning and participating in numerous search warrants, parole and probation checks, and other various operations to locate guns, narcotics, and other illicit activities. He then went on to become a Field Training Officer, and in 2021, he was promoted to Sergeant.
In 2022, after realizing his family's need for a better quality of life and a more wholesome environment for raising his three boys, he moved his family to Middle Tennessee where he joined the Murfreesboro Police Department. Shortly after this, Joel became one of the founding members of the newly formed MPD Unmanned Aircraft Systems Team and currently serves as the Assistant Team Leader.
Joel currently serves the LEDA organization as a Steering Committee member, LEDA Instructor, and as the LEDA Tennessee State Chapter President. The goal of the chapter is to be a resource for Tennessee Public Safety agencies and to assist in promoting and training departments throughout the state of Tennessee in the standards set by the LEDA National organization.
Sergeant Tyler Morten
LEDA Tennessee State Chapter Vice President
Sgt. Tyler Morten has been with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office since 2001. Initially serving as a detention officer, he transitioned to a patrol position in 2002. In 2007, he was promoted to Corporal and received the Officer of the Year award. Currently, Sgt. Morten serves as a Patrol Sergeant, supervising the 2nd shift patrol and overseeing the patrol drone team, which comprises six certified pilots. Sgt. Morten has flown drones recreationally for seven years and joined the Sheriff’s office drone team in 2021. He has been a member of LEDA since 2022, is a NIST Proctor and currently serves as the Vice President of the LEDA Tennessee State Chapter.
Throughout his career, he has attended numerous specialized training courses, including Interview/Interrogation, Domestic Violence, Standardized Field Sobriety Testing, Statement Analysis, Radar Instruction, Spanish Levels 1 and 2, Instructor Development, and Emergency Vehicle Operation Instruction. In 2011, he completed the S.T.O.P.S. Instructor Course.
Prior to joining the Sheriff's Department, he served in the United States Air Force Security Forces for eight years, receiving an honorable discharge in 2001. As a Non-Commissioned Officer and Staff Sergeant (E-5), his duties included supervising the defense and protection of Weapons Storage, managing Alert Response Strike Teams, overseeing training, and supervising active patrols across a 50 square mile security zone with electronic and physical sensors. Additionally, Security Forces supported annual civilian/military engagements, safeguarding high-value Air Force assets during events that attracted over 20,000 civilian patrons.
Russell Bradshaw
LEDA Tennessee State Chapter Secretary | Founder/Director of StormPoint Emergency Response
Russell Bradshaw has been active in public safety for nearly 20 years. His years of service include volunteer fire rescue, US Department of Homeland Security, reserve deputy sheriff, and search and rescue.
In 2017 he began a project to merge his backgrounds in IT and public service by founding a special response team that would respond to large scale weather incidents and disasters where local resources were overwhelmed and specialized assets were in desperate need.
Russell currently serves as the Founder and Director of StormPoint Emergency Response, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization specializing in search and rescue and incident support with unmanned aircraft systems and other technology resources. Through StormPoint’s mission, Russell has been able to respond to hundreds of critical incidents with UAS, and uses that experience to facilitate training and outreach to public safety agencies all over the country and beyond.
He also serves as a UAS Specialist with Rutherford County Fire Rescue, is a Fire Investigator, and is a founding board member and secretary of the Tennessee State Chapter of the Law Enforcement Drone Association.
Lieutenant Mike Herrick
LEDA Tennessee State Chapter Treasurer
Lieutenant Mike Herrick’s commitment to public service spans over two decades. A graduate of Victor Valley High School in California, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served from 1998 to 2005. Following his military service, Lieutenant Herrick transitioned to law enforcement, being appointed as a police officer on June 25, 2006. He is a graduate of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Bethel University, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2012.
Currently serving as the Lieutenant in the Traffic Enforcement Division at the Cookeville Police Department, Lieutenant Herrick has a strong background in public safety and leadership. He also plays a vital role in specialized areas where he serves as the Commander of the Crisis Negotiation Team and coordinates the Methamphetamine Lab Response Team.
Lieutenant Herrick began his work with drone technology in 2020, founding the department's drone program. His experience with drones grew in 2024 when he helped establish the Putnam County Rescue Squad’s drone program. He has led several successful drone deployments, including a notable 7-day deployment to East Tennessee after Hurricane Helene, where he served as the team lead.
With his diverse skill set and forward-thinking approach to technology and public safety, Lieutenant Herrick continues to be a critical asset to his department, the community, and the advancement of drone technology in law enforcement and rescue operations.
Lieutenant Herrick is a founding board member and Treasurer of the Tennessee State Chapter of the Law Enforcement Drone Association.
Lieutenant Mike Herrick
LEDA Tennessee State Chapter Treasurer
Lieutenant Mike Herrick’s commitment to public service spans over two decades. A graduate of Victor Valley High School in California, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served from 1998 to 2005. Following his military service, Lieutenant Herrick transitioned to law enforcement, being appointed as a police officer on June 25, 2006. He is a graduate of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Bethel University, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2012.
Currently serving as the Lieutenant in the Traffic Enforcement Division at the Cookeville Police Department, Lieutenant Herrick has a strong background in public safety and leadership. He also plays a vital role in specialized areas where he serves as the Commander of the Crisis Negotiation Team and coordinates the Methamphetamine Lab Response Team.
Lieutenant Herrick began his work with drone technology in 2020, founding the department's drone program. His experience with drones grew in 2024 when he helped establish the Putnam County Rescue Squad’s drone program. He has led several successful drone deployments, including a notable 7-day deployment to East Tennessee after Hurricane Helene, where he served as the team lead.
With his diverse skill set and forward-thinking approach to technology and public safety, Lieutenant Herrick continues to be a critical asset to his department, the community, and the advancement of drone technology in law enforcement and rescue operations.
Lieutenant Herrick is a founding board member and Treasurer of the Tennessee State Chapter of the Law Enforcement Drone Association.
Steven Jones
LEDA Tennessee State Chapter Steering Committee
Steven Jones has been a police officer with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department since 2009. During that time he has served as a patrol officer, field training officer, and detective. In 2015, Officer Jones joined the department's Crime Scene Investigations Section. He graduated from the National Forensic Academy in 2017 and is a Certified Crime Scene Investigator through the International Association for Identification.
In 2018, Officer Jones obtained his remote pilot certificate and began using drones for aerial photographs and mapping of crime scenes. Since then, he has helped the department expand its use of drones, including major events, missing persons searches, and SWAT incidents.
Officer Jones has piloted drones in a wide variety of missions, from assessing the aftermath of the Nashville 2020 Christmas Day bombing, to providing overwatch for the Secret Service during a presidential debate, to documenting and reconstructing bullet flight path at Civil War battle sites.
Contact the Tennessee State Chapter
info.tn@LEDAuas.org
Chapter Files
Tennessee
Resources
Our Tennessee chapter has a Google Drive with information that you may find helpful for your operations. This is specific to Tennessee. If you have resources you would like to and are allowed to share, please feel free to drop them here by clicking the button below. Note - Please don't share anything that is sensitive to an open investigation.