#ILEETALive with Raul Rivas – “From Pulse to Purpose: SWAT Leadership, Survivor Mentality, and Building a Culture of Wellness in Law Enforcement

📺 ILEETA Live Show Notes – November 2025 Episode

Guest: Raul Rivas

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of ILEETA Live, hosts Joe Willis and Todd Fletcher sit down with Raul Rivas, retired SWAT officer and Award of Valor recipient for his role during the Pulse Nightclub response in Orlando.

Rivas brings a rare combination of tactical insight, lived experience, and emotional honesty as he walks viewers through what it truly means to survive a critical incident—and grow from it.

🔥 Featured Topics:

• The Pulse Nightclub Response:
  Raul shares moment-by-moment reflections from the 2016 mass shooting, including the dynamic entry, gunfire exchange, hostage considerations, and eventual breach.

  “We trained for it. We rehearsed it. But nothing prepares you like the real thing.”

• Leadership on the Line:
  As a SWAT team leader, Raul speaks to the pressure of tactical decision-making, risk assessment, and trusting your team under life-and-death conditions.

  “Your people won’t rise to the level of your words. They rise to the level of your habits.”

• The Real Aftermath:
  Raul opens up about survivor guilt, post-critical incident trauma, and what it took to truly heal—not just return to duty. He calls out the stigma that still surrounds officer mental health.

  “I needed help. And the only reason I got it is because someone finally asked me the right question.”

• Wellness, Not Weakness:
  Rivas urges leaders to stop waiting for tragedy to talk about resilience. He emphasizes the need for peer support programs, therapist access, family inclusion, and top-down cultural change.

  “If you wait until after the shooting to talk about wellness, it’s too late.”

🧠 Instructor Development Segment:

Joe Willis delivers a short lesson on “The Power of the Pause.” He challenges instructors to stop filling every second of classroom time with talking and start using silence to let concepts sink in.

“Let silence do the heavy lifting.”

⚖️ ILEETA Legal Update:

Duane Wolfe previews upcoming topics from the legal webinar series and reinforces the importance of teaching case law through the lens of human performance, not checkbox compliance.

📢 Community Updates:

• Instructor Proposals for #ILEETA2026 are due October 31

• Early Bird Registration ends October 31 ($399)

• Journal article submissions due December 10

• Scholarship application window opens December 1

• New! The ILEETA Book of the Month series is underway — details at ileeta.org/bookclub

🎯 Key Quote from Raul Rivas:

“If you want your officers to survive the street, teach them tactics.
If you want them to survive the job… teach them how to be human again.”

This episode is a must-watch for any law enforcement trainer, SWAT leader, or peer support advocate looking to elevate both operational performance and emotional readiness in today’s policing environment.

🎥 Watch the full episode and past recordings at:
https://www.ileeta.org/ileetalive

More #ILEETALive