Heroes Agency Instructor Spotlight

Assistant Commander Adam Gonzales — Criminal Justice Trainer Supervisor, Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission

Adam Gonzales serves as a Criminal Justice Trainer Supervisor with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission and has been a Heroes Agency Instructor for the past two years. In his role, he is committed to strengthening the readiness and professionalism of public safety professionals through active bystandership training. For Gonzales, being an active bystander means having the backs of both the communities served and fellow public safety professionals. His motivation for teaching with Heroes is rooted in a clear understanding that effective active bystandership is essential for ensuring officers and first responders can consistently perform at their best.

Gonzales finds the most rewarding aspect of his work to be witnessing the moment when recruits connect with the importance of ABLE and Heroes Active Bystandership and begin to internalize their responsibility to step in when it matters. He identifies hesitancy and uncertainty as the greatest barriers to action, recognizing that officers may not always know what to do in critical moments. To address this, he emphasizes preparation and scenario-based thinking, encouraging participants to practice “what if” situations before they occur. He believes that active bystandership training is especially vital in public safety, where professionals regularly encounter vulnerable, threatening, and overwhelming circumstances and must be prepared to act with awareness, confidence, and accountability.

Beyond the classroom, Gonzales brings an engaging and collaborative approach to instruction, particularly through role-playing and small-group activities that allow participants to apply key concepts in realistic settings. Outside of his professional life, he is an avid traveler and has been fortunate to experience extensive travel across the country, its major territories, and much of the world, having visited six of the world’s seven continents.