About the Presenter

Attorney John Sofis Scheft., Esq.

John Sofis Scheft has been providing specialized legal training for over thirty years, with a record unmatched in Massachusetts. He has collaborated with MIIA to present a variety of programs for police since 2009 under the direction of Lin Chabra, MIIA’s Director of Training.

Among John’s many topics — police reform and liability; bias-free professional policing; narcotics investigations; domestic violence; traffic stops; searches with and without warrants; avoiding wrongful conviction through proper interrogation and identification techniques; enhanced court testimony and report writing; sexual assault investigations; and juvenile law and procedure.

He is the author of several widely used police reference manuals on constitutional procedure, criminal law, juvenile issues, and motor vehicle law.

Aside from legal preparation, John Scheft performs consulting services for police agencies concerning policy and management.

In addition to his work with MIIA, Scheft has taught extensively for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Massachusetts State Police, Boston Police, Massachusetts Juvenile Police Officers Association, Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC), New England Community Police Partnership, and police academies and departments throughout the Commonwealth.

From 1993 to 1995, Scheft served as Director of the Attorney General’s Elderly Protection Project, which provided multi- disciplinary training to police officers on community policing issues affecting the elderly. Funded through a national grant, the Project received a 1994 innovation award from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Prior to serving with the Attorney General, Scheft worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, where he became a specialist in child abuse and hard-core juvenile offender cases.

A graduate of Harvard University and Northeastern University School of Law, John Scheft lives with his wife Sof in Arlington, Massachusetts. He has two adult children (Callie and Perry) and a twelve-pound terrier (Athena).