Michael Puente — Instructor Profile

About Michael Puente

Michael Puente is a 23-year law enforcement professional, instructor, curriculum developer, and nationally experienced presenter. He currently serves as the Training, Research & Academy Certification Project Manager with the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (AZPOST), where he helps oversee Arizona’s law enforcement academies, statewide instructor and Master Instructor systems, curriculum development, and training initiatives.

Prior to joining AZPOST, Michael served 18 years as a sworn law enforcement officer with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. His operational experience includes SWAT, serving as a sniper and sniper team leader, fugitive apprehension, K9 operations, dignitary protection, firearms, defensive tactics, patrol tactics, and use-of-force instruction. He also served as an academy Class Sergeant responsible for developing and mentoring new law enforcement officers.

Michael has extensive experience in combatives, defensive tactics, firearms, and use-of-force training and has served in statewide leadership roles involving law enforcement training and curriculum development. He is a Force Science Institute Use of Force Instructor and an IADLEST Nationally Certified Instructor and has presented to law enforcement professionals at the local, state, and national levels.

Michael is the creator of the Seven Foundational Principles of Law Enforcement, a framework developed to improve officer decision-making, tactics, communication, leadership, and performance. The principles have become part of Arizona’s basic law enforcement academy curriculum and are also presented within executive leadership training. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Seven Foundational Principles of Law Enforcement: The Foundational Curriculum in Law Enforcement.

His approach to instruction combines more than two decades of operational experience with current research, adult learning, leadership development, and practical application to prepare officers and leaders for the realities of modern law enforcement.