Anyone hear of this place?? I keep on getting emails.

www.suarezinternational.com/tacopoct04.html

Gabe Suarez. Has been a semi-big name on the LEO training circuit for a few years now; ran into some trouble a few years ago and was terminated by his agency and took a plea for one or two criminal charges, but it hasn't seemed to hurt his training biz at all.

He is a criminal and I hear something of a con man.

The charges against Suarez were bogus and politically motivated.  

As I understand it, Gabe's attorney informed him that he would okay to run his training classes while on workman's comp as it was not a strenuous as police duty.  Apparently, Gabe's former department didn't agree.  The DA came after both him and his wife.  Gabe accepted a deal which kept his wife from going to prison.  If the DA had such a strong case against Gabe, then why allow him to plead down from a felony to a misdemeanor?

Regardless of Gabe's guilt or innocence, he's paid his debt to society.  He's an outstanding instructor who teaches cutting edge tactics and techniques.  Don't let his prior history disuade you from attending one of his classes if you get the opportunity.

He was out on disability due to extremely high blood pressure. So chasing badguys etc was a bad idea. Teaching was no problem, except his dept thought otherwise. Turned out to be cheaper and easier on the familiy to plead guilty and do 1 year.

He is an ex-SWAT guy who has "seen the elephant" several times. He has a very good reputation, and his books are excellent.

Turned out to be cheaper and easier on the familiy to plead guilty and do 1 year.

It really pisses me off that it costs so much money to have a shot at getting any real "justice".

Quoted: He is a criminal and I hear something of a con man.

I take this back. Apparently I was misstaken.

Quoted: Quoted: He is a criminal and I hear something of a con man. I take this back. Apparently I was misstaken.

There are lots of folks who are very serious people who agree with your first statement.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: He is a criminal and I hear something of a con man. I take this back. Apparently I was misstaken. There are lots of folks who are very serious people who agree with your first statement.

Yes, but with what was posted here about him, he doesn't seem so bad. I'll reserve judgement until I have better information.

Good guy...runs a good class and is very knowledgable. I have never met the man, but have friends I trust who vouch for him. Good enough for me. Poor schmuck must live on an airplane, though.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: He is a criminal and I hear something of a con man. I take this back. Apparently I was misstaken. There are lots of folks who are very serious people who agree with your first statement.

Not to get into a pissing match with you, but a majority of the renowned "professional trainers" who speak ill of Gabe are attempting to engage in character assasination to further their own business agenda.  Gabe does not restrict any of his material to LEO/Govt types only, which also seems to be a major point of contention with some folks.

Quoted: The charges against Suarez were bogus and politically motivated.   As I understand it, Gabe's attorney informed him that he would okay to run his training classes while on workman's comp as it was not a strenuous as police duty.  Apparently, Gabe's former department didn't agree.  The DA came after both him and his wife.  Gabe accepted a deal which kept his wife from going to prison.  If the DA had such a strong case against Gabe, then why allow him to plead down from a felony to a misdemeanor? Regardless of Gabe's guilt or innocence, he's paid his debt to society.  He's an outstanding instructor who teaches cutting edge tactics and techniques.  Don't let his prior history disuade you from attending one of his classes if you get the opportunity.

Although I never met Gabe, I, like him have taken advice from my attorney and I do need an income to survive. If Gabe listened to his attorney and that got him screwed that is unfortunate. If Gabe continued to run his business to feed his family and was charged with a felony after taking that advice that is even more sad. If the man has paid his debt to society (and from reading this thread it appears that he has) I commend him for keeping his training facility up. I have never heard anything negative about Gabe or his training facility. I hear that he is a pretty squared away individual and he provides good disciplines for LE and civilians alike.



 

News article

Former Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges
By Teresa Rochester
Sept. 27, 2001
www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000326#000000

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Gabe the con artist
www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=000073#000000

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Pat Rogers sums it all up in these two posts.
www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=001286#000000

Suarez was a cop who- along with his wife and partner- was arrested for fraud, money laundering and other crimes and eventually pled to a reduced charge.
He dishonored the police profession and himself.

**

Brother- i was in the team house when Gabe detailed his entire scheme to defraud the PD and CA to us.It was not comfortable for us to listen to a cop talk about commiting a crime, and i did not care for it.
If i had differences of opinions relative to tactics, teaching etc, that would be a wash.
But criminal acts are something else. You have never heard me speak bad of other instructors relative to their competence, quality etc.
Anyone can get arrested. There is a difference between punching a neighbor in the nose and conspiring to commit a crime.
The investigators were very open about what they had discovered, and it was disturbing.
He did his time and I wish him well in his endeavors, but i have no desire to see TF be a front for him.

Beware of people with 4 total posts bringing up controversial subjects.

If you're really interested in finding out about the guy - read his hundreds of posts over on the GlockTalk Tactics forum - or send him an e-mail fer pete's sake.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: He is a criminal and I hear something of a con man. I take this back. Apparently I was misstaken. There are lots of folks who are very serious people who agree with your first statement. Not to get into a pissing match with you, but a majority of the renowned "professional trainers" who speak ill of Gabe are attempting to engage in character assasination to further their own business agenda.  Gabe does not restrict any of his material to LEO/Govt types only, which also seems to be a major point of contention with some folks.

I don't do pissing matches. There is enough info out there about GS for folks to make their own decisions.

.

Agreed.

the criminal issue is all news to me...

ive read some of his books... some good information there, but its mostly common sense or information that can be had from other sources, and could hardly be considered revolutionary... good books if youre just starting out i suppose...

seemed to me to be a bit self aggrandizing...

i prefer mas ayoob myself...

Quoted: News article Former Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges By Teresa Rochester Sept. 27, 2001 www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000326#000000 -- Gabe the con artist www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=000073#000000 -- Pat Rogers sums it all up in these two posts. www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=001286#000000 Suarez was a cop who- along with his wife and partner- was arrested for fraud, money laundering and other crimes and eventually pled to a reduced charge. He dishonored the police profession and himself. ** Brother- i was in the team house when Gabe detailed his entire scheme to defraud the PD and CA to us.It was not comfortable for us to listen to a cop talk about commiting a crime, and i did not care for it. If i had differences of opinions relative to tactics, teaching etc, that would be a wash. But criminal acts are something else. You have never heard me speak bad of other instructors relative to their competence, quality etc. Anyone can get arrested. There is a difference between punching a neighbor in the nose and conspiring to commit a crime. The investigators were very open about what they had discovered, and it was disturbing. He did his time and I wish him well in his endeavors, but i have no desire to see TF be a front for him.

If Gabe was smart enough to plan a scheme to defraud his department do you honestly think he would be stupid enough to discuss his plan in front of multiple witnesses?

Here's one from Tactical Forums by Marty Hayes:

www.tacticalforums.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000326.html

Looks like it's time to burn some bridges, at least with some people here on tacticalforums.
Last summer when this hit, I signed onto this forum to read what was being said about Gabe. This situation effected me business wise, as we had a full class scheduled with him, which we had to cancel.

At about the same time, I was contacted by the lead investigator and I then became part of the investigation, since Gabe had taught for my company during the time in question. (BTW, there was no doubt that his back was screwed up at that time, but he held in there for the two days, which I was grateful for. In my opinion, (20 years as a cop myself), no way could he have worked a patrol shift).

The story I got from the investigator was essentially the same as Gabe now relates on GT.

By pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges, he saves his business, pays a heafty fine, (the back WC wages), and goes on with his life.

I see nothing wrong with what Gabe did. He ran a side business while working as a cop, many of the industry does just that. He got injured on the job, and couldn't work as a cop, but that should not prevent him from pursuing his side business if he could. Standing, (or sitting on a firing line) is not the same as wrestling to the ground a 300 pound gorilla.

Remember that he didn't hide any of his activities like a criminal would do, it was all done out in the open. The whole situation reeked of a inter-departmental squabble and political prosecution, of which I know a little. By giving up the felony charges, the department admits that it doesn't have enough evidence to convict for felony charges. He should never have been charged to begin with.

As far as Maddogs feelings towards Gabe goes, I recall several years ago meeting someone in the industry who was carrying some baggage with him, accused of theft, fraud etc. by others in the industry. I thought to myself, well, if he did all this why isn't he being pursued legally? The same question begs to be answered in this situation too. BTW, that person whom I be-friended several years continues to be a good friend of mine, well-thought of in the industry, and has never done anything remotely against me or anyone else that I know of. If I would have believed what I heard about him to begin with, I would have been lesser for the situation.

Will Gabe be shunned in the industry? I am sure by some people. So be it. I expect him to explain the situation many times over the next few years, and eventually people will forget about it. As far as our part of the world, The Firearms Academy of Seattle has scheduled him for another training engagement next year, and look forward to many more classes to come.

Marty Hayes, Director
The Firearms Academy of Seattle, Inc.

I've trained with Gabe on two occasions. I think he's the real deal. He's a gentleman, well spoken, knowledgeable and skilled. Before some of you people go pissing all over the man, why don't you contact him, meet him, read one of his books, look at his website or do something to familiarize yourself with the man.

In case some of you haven't noticed, firearms instructors can be some of the most thin-skinned, self involved people in the world. If you do something or ask a question about a technique that is fractionally different to what they teach, they will usually explode. Suddenly the student and the alternate technique will be denounced as completely full of shit and all attempts will be made to discredit them both. I found Suarez to be an exception to this. He never talked down other instructors or their techniques and always qualified what he was teaching by saying, "This is not the ONLY way to do this," or "This is not necessarily the BEST way to do this, but it works best for me," or "This is not the Suarez technique or the Suarez position, its just something I picked up that works well for me."

and mas ayoob has never been self aggrandizing...

and shortly after attacking Gabe....several of the Tactical forum regulars  jumped all over someone who said some good things about Andy Stanford of OPS.

I met Marty Hayes one time. Seems to run a pretty good shop up there.

Gabe does not restrict any of his material to LEO/Govt types only, which also seems to be a major point of contention with some folks.

Well.....his stock just went up in my book.........

Hopefully he wil be coming back to Tucson soon.