Our Experience

Ray DeFrates, RBT Consulting’s President and Lead Consultant started his Law Enforcement career in 1989 with the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). Over his 33-year career with APD, he worked all Area Commands in uniform patrol. After working in the narcotics section, he started his instructional career and earned an instructor position at the APD Police Academy in 1992. In 1995 he earned a position on the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team, eventually becoming the Team Leader. While on the SWAT Team he was tasked with running many of the training days. During his tenure in SWAT, he became an adjunct instructor for the Department of Energy (DOE) at the Central Training Academy (later renamed the National Training Center). While working for the Department of Energy he was assigned to the Department of State, Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program. He instructed SWAT and basic police tactics to law enforcement officers from every Continent of the world including the Countries of Paraguay, Uruguay, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Greece, Djibouti, Somalia, and numerous countries in Europe and the Middle East. He also worked with the DOE Transportation Safeguards Division (later renamed the Office of Secure Transportation) as an adjunct instructor.

Ray and his family, Dylan, Cody, and Candis, December 2021

In 2005 Ray accepted a position with the Repeat Offender Project, an undercover unit dedicated to the apprehension of Albuquerque’s worst and most violent repeat offenders. He was the team leader and ran the majority of the training.

He retired in late 2007, only to return as a rehire in early 2008. He was assigned to the School Resource Unit. The Section Lieutenant gave him the responsibility of Lead Instructor, organizing or running all training for the unit. Starting in early 2012, the Albuquerque Police Department’s Police Academy Director of Training asked him to take over all Police Cadet Firearms Training, which led to a full-time position back at the APD Police Academy in 2014.

Ray’s interest in Reality Based Training began as an adjunct instructor at DOE. At that time, he felt there was a better, more efficient way to train by using more realistic scenarios with specific definable training objectives. Shortly after Ray’s return to APD he began pushing the Department toward his goal of providing the Department the best Reality Based Training Program possible, with the will to execute it properly, consistently, and with intensity to provide officers with the needed skills to survive on the streets. Ray began by using the “Airsoft” training weapons to provide the School Resource Officers with Active Shooter Response Training. Ray then began assisting the APD Police Academy with its scenario training for the APD Police Cadets by making the scenarios more realistic and using the Socratic method of teaching. After his success with the School Resource Officers and Cadets, APD allowed him to start an RBT program for the department in 2015, the program has continued to grow ever since. The RBT program now has a training center, full-time employees both sworn and civilian, and a roster of intermittent, part-time personnel as role players. Ray was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2019 and remained with the RBT Unit as its Sergeant until he retired in 2022.

Ray holds New Mexico Department of Public Safety (NMDPS) Master Instructor Certifications in Reality Based Training, Use of Force, Officer Survival, and Firearms. He is also a NMDPS Certified Instructor in Defensive Tactics, Emergency Vehicle Operations, and Health and Wellness.

The Albuquerque Police Department was placed under a Court Approved Settlement Agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2015. Ray has developed, managed, and instructed numerous courses to include Annual Department Mandatory Use of Force Training and Supervisor Critical Incident Command and Control training, all approved by the DOJ and the Independent Monitoring Team assigned to oversee APD’s progress on the Settlement Agreement.

Ray resides in the Manzano Mountains of Central New Mexico with his wife and their dogs. He enjoys rock climbing, kayaking, fishing, hunting, snowshoeing, and long-distance hiking in his free time. He and his wife have walked over two hundred miles in Ireland and Scotland, looking forward to more trips now that they are both retired from Law Enforcement.