About Us

Jon Walters Co-Founder & President

Jon has more than 20 years of hands-on policing experience, including as a military police officer in the US Army, a police officer on Bainbridge Island and in Renton, and as the Chief of Police in Mukilteo, WA. He later served as the Executive Director of the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS), a US Department of Justice Regional Community Policing Institute that served the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. In this position, he was responsible for managing federal programs designed to enhance police-community relations, trust and partnerships to address crime, fear of crime and quality of life issues at the local level.

Jon is a graduate of the 171^st session of the FBI National Academy, a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the Washington Association of Fire Chiefs, Association of Washington Cities and the FBI National Academy Associates. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and Justice and a Master of Science degree in Organization Development.

Colleen Wilson Director of Promotional Testing & Executive Services

Colleen manages PST’s promotional testing and executive services. After serving 40 years in uniform (23 years as a police chief), Colleen retired as the Port of Seattle police chief where she served for 9 years. She also served as the Chief of Police for the cities of Monroe and Sumner. Colleen was appointed the first female police chief in the State of Washington, the first female president of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) and chaired the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. Appointed by three governors and a Supreme Court Justice as the law enforcement representative to various task forces, Colleen has helped make legislative and policy changes for Washington state, most recently in the area of ethical response by police officers.

Colleen attended Gonzaga University, the University of Washington’s Cascade Program for Executive Excellence, and the FBI’s National Academy and Executive Leadership programs. Colleen’s experience, reputation and talent brings great value to PST and to those we serve.

Nick & Julie Seibert Promotional Testing Developer & Administrator

Nick has been involved in public safety for 36 years with a background in law enforcement as a deputy sheriff, police officer and the last 7 years in police administration. During the last five years of his career, Nick was the hiring manager for a midsize city and participated in many hiring and promotional processes. Nick is a graduate of Northwestern University’s the School of Police Staff and Command.

Julie serves as the Test Administrator on test day and during Assessment Centers. She works with the candidates in the candidate room, provides the briefing, keeps the process on schedule and ensures that all the candidates are on the same level playing field in terms of preparatory information.

Nick and Julie have worked for Public Safety Testing since 2016. To date, Nick and Julie have worked with nearly 60 public safety agencies, to build and deliver over 80 promotional processes.

Dave Bales Promotional Testing Developer & Administrator

Dave has nearly 37 years’ experience in the law enforcement profession, including patrol, investigations, training, supervisory, and over 20 years of command and executive experience. After retiring from active law enforcement in 2013, he served as Deputy Director for the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission until 2017.

Dave is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (Class 214), the Delinquency Control Institute at USC and has master’s degrees in Adult Education and Criminal Justice Administration. He has been an adjunct college professor for over 20 years and has extensive experience with designing and assessing adult learning activities.

Dave and his wife Margaret live in NW Washington State and remain active members of the community in which Dave served during his Law Enforcement career.

Michael Ryan Fire Tactical Simulations SME

Michael Ryan retired from the Shoreline Fire Department, (WA) as a Battalion Chief after 27 years of service. Prior to the fire service Michael served 11 years with the Australian Navy and one year with the Port of Melbourne Emergency Services. Michael has been working with Public Safety Testing for over 2 years as the subject matter expert creating and proctoring fire service tactical simulations in promotional testing. Michael lives in Everett, WA with his wife of 35 years.

Mike Burnett Promotional Testing Developer & Administrator

Mike Burnett has 39 years of experience in emergency services, including time as a paramedic in Saudi Arabia, Oregon and Washington, before joining the fire service in 1989 at South Kitsap Fire District 7. A few years later he accepted a firefighter position in his hometown of Hillsboro ultimately promoting through the ranks to Operations Chief. In 2009 Mike became the Fire Chief of Chelan County Fire District 1 and retired from there in February of 2019.

He has an extensive background in wildfire response and community preparedness. Assigned to one of 16 National Type 1 Incident Management Teams as the Planning Section Chief for the last 13 years with deployments as far away as Puerto Rico and Georgia, Mike has been a guest speaker on GIS risk mapping and the Community Assistance for Wildfire Planning (CPAW) process. He has also testified before the Senate in Washington DC on structural fire service responses to wildfire.

Matthew Walters Business Development

Matthew grew up in Mukilteo, WA before moving to Spokane for college. Matthew graduated in 2017 from Gonzaga University with a degree in Business Administration, concentrating in Finance and Marketing. After college, he moved to Scottsdale, AZ to work at Vanguard, an investment institution. After two years, he returned to the Northwest and to PST.

Matthew had worked at PST periodically throughout high school and college. His current role involves business development and supporting a wide array of other business functions. He responds to the Contact Us emails and often proctors tests. He also occasionally supports promotional testing events.

Pat Walters Co-Founder & Vice President

As Vice President, Pat directs the day to day operations of Public Safety Testing assisting with test scheduling, test proctoring, admin support, recruitment, promotional exam development and more. An Edmonds native, Pat graduated from Edmonds High School and attended Seattle Pacific University.

Greg Wilson Director of Investigations

Greg Wilson serves as the Director of Investigations and brings to PST more than 32-years of diverse and progressive public safety experience serving three different municipalities in the Puget Sound region.

Greg began his public safety career in 1986, with the Renton Police Department and was one of the founding members of the Federal Way Police Department. Greg retired in 2019, after serving more than ten years as the Chief of Police for the City of Mountlake Terrace. Greg has a proven track record and considerable experience in conducting and managing criminal, background, internal affairs, and workplace misconduct investigations.

Greg received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington State University; is a graduate of the 219th Session of the FBI National Academy and the 67th Session of the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar. Greg is a Lifetime Member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and a recipient of the Patriotic Employer Award from the United States Department of Defense. Greg is a certified Leadership/Ethics Instructor for the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission and has conducted leadership, ethics, and management courses across the nation to federal, state, and local public safety agencies.

Stephanie Benjamin Pre-Employment Testing Services Manager

Stephanie Benjamin serves as the Testing Services Manager, managing all programs and services related to PST's pre-employment testing system. Stephanie started her career in public service as an officer in the United States Navy. She served five years on active duty with tours in Yokosuka, Japan and Everett, WA. Stephanie served in many capacities while on active duty, specializing in division management and weapons systems. She is currently a Lieutenant Commander(selected) in the US Navy Reserves, serving as Training Department Head and Defense Equal Opportunity Management representative for her reserve unit.

Stephanie received her Bachelor's of Arts in Political Science with a Certificate in International Security from the University of Washington. She is also a graduate of the University of Washington Foster School of Business receiving a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with emphasis in marketing and organizational management.

Connie Cho PSTi Support Team Supervisor & IT Specialist

Connie started with PST in 2015 as administrative support for PST Investigations. Since then, she has provided support in the other areas of business, Pre-Employment Testing and Assessment Centers/Promotional Testing.

Connie earned her Bachelor's of Science degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Business Administration from Western Washington University.

Diane Bates Test Administrator

Diane serves as a technical advisor and test administrator for PST and has served in that capacity since 2001. Diane served for over 23 years as the chief examiner to the City of Renton Civil Service Commission in addition to responsibilities within the human resources field. During that time she was actively involved in the administration of entry, lateral and promotional processes for uniformed police and fire personnel, including the recruitment and selection of chiefs for both departments. Diane assisted the Renton Police Department in achieving accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) by ensuring the recruiting, testing and hiring program met CALEA's established criteria.

Cindy Walters Spokane Testing Lead & Promotional Testing Developer

Cindy began her career at Spokane County Fire District 8 where she worked her way up to EMS Division Chief. She served as the Program Director of the Fire Science Technology program at Spokane Community College where she trained students who were interested in becoming career firefighters and coordinated the Fire Officer degree program for first-line supervisors. She taught all aspects of the fire service including classroom and practical skills training. She spent summers serving on incident management teams as a Resource Unit Leader and a Type 2 Planning Section Chief. She has taught FEMA All-Hazard Planning Section courses. She recently retired from Spokane Community College. Cindy received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Washington University. She also served as the Civil Service Examiner for Spokane Valley Fire Department for 13 years.

Currently Cindy works for Public Safety Testing as a lead proctor for entry level police, fire and dispatch exams in the Spokane Area. She is a test developer for written promotional exams and she participates as a Test Administrator in the delivery of assessment centers.

Diana Culver Business Development

Diana has worked for PST since 2004 and currently provides administrative and accounting support. She has over 20 years of customer service experience and is often the first point of contact for applicants and agency representatives. Diana has been responsible for many aspects of PST including updating the PST website with new departments, testing dates, updated information, website pages and served as a test proctor and administrator.

Diana has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington.