I'm Erik Scramlin. You may know me as the Tactical Attorney.
I have spent my career next to police officers, in the courtroom and in the classroom. This is why.
Why I do this
I was a prosecutor for a long time. I tried the cases officers brought me, and I sat with them in the hallway afterward when a good arrest fell apart because of a rule nobody had ever explained to them. I watched officers get sued for calls they made in seconds and could not put into words afterward. Not because they did anything wrong, but because nobody had trained them to explain it.
That is the gap. Officers are expected to know the law like a lawyer, and then they are handed a slideshow and told good luck. I got tired of watching it.
What I've done
I have been training officers in New Mexico and across the country since 2012, and full time through Tactical Legal Solutions since 2019. Before that I served as a New Mexico Chief Deputy District Attorney, a police legal advisor, and an instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. I have also defended officers in civil rights cases, so I know what the other side of the courtroom looks like when a use of force goes wrong.
None of that matters much on its own. What matters is that I have seen what gets officers in trouble, and I know how to teach the law so it sticks when you need it.
The Tactical Attorney on YouTube
The channel started because officers kept asking me the same questions after class. So I started answering them on camera. New cases, plain language, ten minutes or less.
New Mexico Search & Seizure
Use of Force Law
Curtilage vs Open Fields
The Tactical In-Service podcast
Longer conversations on the law that affects your job. New episodes when there is something worth talking about.
Listen on SpreakerHow I train
No death by PowerPoint. Real New Mexico cases, broken down to what the officer did and what the court said about it. Officers ask questions. We argue. You leave knowing where the line is.
Built for New Mexico officers. Available to agencies nationwide.
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