Management Team
Muky Cohen / Founder - President
Muky has decades of experience in security management, design and consulting. A veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces Special Airborne Combat Engineering Platoon, he later joined the Israel Security Agency as a security agent protecting Israeli assets in Europe and the Merchant Marine. In 1984, he opened a security company in Los Angeles dedicated to providing high level executive protection services. In 1992, he launched the Chameleon Group, specializing in high-end investigation services. Now Chameleon Associates is a brand leader in security consulting and anti-terrorism training for private and public clients, worldwide.
Amotz Brandes / Managing Partner
Amotz began his career in an Israeli Defense Forces Special Forces Reconnaissance Unit. Later, he joined El Al Airlines as a Security Agent & Profiler. In 2002, he established Chameleon’s Training Department in the wake of 9/11, and has since been training private, public and military sectors in Predictive Profiling, Security Questioning, Insider Threat, Proactive Security and more. For over a decade, he has managed security projects for clients in various industries including; aviation, mass transit, schools and universities, government facilities, manufacturing plants, retail and much more. Amotz has BA Degree in Intl. Development Studies at UCLA.
Kim Langton / Director - Australia & New Zealand
Kim is Managing Director of Chameleon Associates (Australia) Pty Ltd. Kim has over 30 years security and emergency services experience, including service with the Royal Australian Navy, Queensland Fire and Ambulance Services and has held senior management positions in Australian security and hospitality industries. Kim has trained Chameleon clients in Asia and South Pacific for the last 10 years. He has specific expertise in the hospitality industry, holding Security and Safety Management positions with the Sheraton and Accor hotel groups and Corporate Security Manager - Papua New Guinea region, for the Southern Pacific Hotels Corporation.
Sara McEathron/ Director - Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
Sara McEathron has 20 years in the private security industry ranging from supervising and training teams to protecting diplomats in austere environments. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Sara has served in two foreign wars, provided relief for hurricane victims in El Salvador, and trained Zervany in Northern Iraq as a private contractor for the Department of State. She has an Associate of Science in Criminal Justice, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and a Master of Business Administration. Sara has been a manager with Chameleon Associates since 2014, training and enhancing the overall quality of security services for clients in Texas.
Dr. Dov Paz / Clinical Psychology Consultant
Dr. Paz is a veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces where he served as a Military Intelligence officer. After discharge, he consulted in organizational psychology. In the U.S., Dr. Paz has worked as a neuropsychologist for various agencies and in private practice. These roles included heading a 98-bed psychiatric unit inside a high security prison. He specializes in Forensic Psychology. At Chameleon, he has conducted psychological profiling in cases involving high net worth clients and celebrities. His academic focus is stress management and high performance decision making. He received his M.A. in Organizational and Social Psychology from Bar-Ilan University and his Ph.D in Clinical and Neuropsychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles.
Peter Crabbe / Senior Consultant & Trainer
Peter is Chameleon’s Director of School Operations and has been part of the Chameleon team for over twenty years. He began his career working in the Illinois Depart. of Corrections' Juvenile Division. After moving to Los Angeles, he conducted surveillance and worked under-cover in an 18-month DOJ investigation which netted several arrests. He has provided executive protection services for celebrities, CEOs, and families, conducted hundreds of assessments for schools and other sites, conducted trainings of security teams and law enforcement, has been an anti-terrorism instructor for the Department of Homeland Security and manages red team operations to ensure a high-quality security performance. He is often asked to speak to faculty, staff and parents about Chameleon’s unique approach to school security. He earned a B.A. in Communications with honors from Principia College.
Ilja Jakerson / Security Quality Assurance & Trainer
Ilja began his security career in the 1990s working as a Security Agent and Profiler for El Al Airlines in Scandinavia, Israel and other European countries. Later, he worked with Assero Security in Stockholm as a Trainer in security profiling, security questioning and self defense for a range of both governmental and private clients to include the Swedish Police Authority (Border Control) and SAMI. He later transitioned to the private sector and is a service industry business owner and entrepreneur. Ilja has also worked for over a decade providing security and consulting for Jewish communities in Sweden.
Ilja is a certified Krav Maga and a shooting instructor. He earned a degree in International Business from University of Stockholm. He is fluent in English, Swedish and Russian.
Mark Randol/ Security & Intelligence Consultant & Trainer
Mark has over 35 years of military and civil service ranging from assignments with the USAF in Asia and Europe, to working at the NSA, with Army Intelligence Staff at the Pentagon and as Director of Counterterrorism Policy at DHS. At theTSA, he was a civil aviation security manager and at the FAA an Intelligence Analyst. As a Senior Specialist in domestic intelligence and counter terrorism at the CRS he provided Congress with nonpartisan research and analysis. Mark earned his BA in Social Science at UC Berkeley and an MA in National Security Studies at Georgetown University. He currently teaches at EKU and at USC.
David Otte / Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
David served over 32 years with the Massachusetts State Police and worked in a wide variety of assignments from patrol, investigations, supervision, and upper management. He was in Internal Affairs for 5 years before promotion to Commandant of the Academy where he oversaw the department's technical services and then the disciplinary, promotional, and background investigation processes. David has an MBA from Bentley University, and a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Western New England University. He also attended Session 202 of the FBI National Academy and the Harvard Kennedy School program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.
Harold Stivala / Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
Harold Stivala has over 27 years’ experience as an Army Officer in the Armed Forces of Malta. He has led Airport Security, Maritime and Infantry units and was an Operations Officer for maritime law enforcement and search and rescue operations. As a Colonel, he was also responsible for training, logistics and long term procurement. He was appointed CEO of the Humanitarian Hub during the 2011 Libyan Crisis. Mr. Stivala was the Physical Security Manager at De La Rue Currency in Malta. He is a Graduate of the Infantry Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, took the European Security and Defence Policy High Level Course and attended the Italian Joint Staff College in Rome.
Jim Slothower / Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
Jim has over 30 years of experience in the security industry where he began in the private and maritime sectors as an Operations Manager. He later worked for the Bureau of Intl. Narcotics and Law Enforcement - U.S. Depart. of State in various locations in Afghanistan for over seven years in civilian advisor support roles, managing security and counterterrorism across divisions and conducting training assessments. He next moved stateside, joining the Federal Protective Service where for eight years he oversaw operations across Washington and Oregon and later worked as a Quality Control Manager responsible for conducting inspections at over 70 security posts in the region. Jim has FEMA Emergency Mgmt. Institute Professional Certification as well as being a Certified Protection Specialist and holds a 5th degree black belt.
Shawn Neel - Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
Shawn began his career in law enforcement over 20 years ago when he worked in multiple roles including investigative, undercover and SWAT crisis negotiation. He held security clearance for homeland security, intelligence and counter-terror matters. He has taught courses for both civilian and law enforcement audiences in interrogation, covert ops and firearm technology and has consulted dozens of agencies and businesses on threat assessment program creation and strategies for workplace and school environments. In addition, he is certified in dignitary protection and worked on many assignments and as an advance team lead. Post retirement, Shawn moved into the government sector working for the State Bar as the Sr. Investigator for the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel. This year, Shawn joined the ranks of Chameleon Associates, supporting projects for our clients in northern Texas.
Shawn earned his B.A. in Criminal Justice.
Nick Guzzo - Security Consultant & Trainer/Close Protection Specialist
Nick began his career in the U.S. Military 101st Airborne division and was deployed during OEF to Afghanistan. His army experience included defensive driving, Emergency First Responder training and Raven surveillance training to detect, deter and counter threats to Air Mobility Command aircraft. He is an expert marksman.
After honorable discharge, Nick served as Security Operations Manager for a large, high-end Hotel. He later transitioned to performing contract close protection, surveillance and security advances for a variety of UHNWI clients. Nick has extensive training in tactical driving and personal protection techniques. He is a mixed martial art and advanced Krav Maga instructor as well as a certified American Red Cross trainer. He maintains a BSIS card. Currently for Chameleon, he is deployed as a close protection agent; he also conducts red teams and training for various Chameleon clients.
Sola Engstrom - Security Consultant & Trainer/Close Protection Specialist
Sola began her professional career as a Social Worker and then segued to a career in law enforcement with the Politi- og lensmannsetaten (Norwegian Police Forces). She served as a First Sergeant in both Oslo and Søndre Buskerud, assigned variously to urban patrol, undercover surveillance, first responder responsibilities, crime scene investigations and crowd control at critical events.
She separated from the Police to pursue two complementary paths: one as a personal trainer (Sola is a competitive bodybuilder) and the other as a close protection agent. Since moving to the U.S., she has provided security to a wide range of high visibility clients, both on elite teams and in solo assignments. In addition to close protection training, she has advanced rescue and preparedness and counter-ambush security driving experience. Sola also participates in red teaming services for Chameleon clients.
Sola is fluent in English, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian.
Fritz Thompson - Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
Fritz is a highly skilled security expert with over 30 years’ experience in proactive security methods, developing and implementing comprehensive security strategies, policies, and procedures. He is certified Executive Protection agent who has guarded celebrities and executives as well as coordinated and led teams for securing private events and concerts. He has excellent interpersonal skills and is well versed in conflict resolution. As a licensed S.W.A.T. instructor, he has conducted extensive protective agent training. Fritz also works as a Fire Chief at a large refinery and studied Fire Safety and Medical Science at Texas A&M University. As a Chameleon SQAM, he trains and manages the quality and performance of security officers for our Aruban clients. He is also a licensed EMT. A native of the island of Aruba, he is fluent in Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamento.
Jonathan Barkan - Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
Jonathan served three years as a soldier and commander in the IDF where he took part in countless missions and operations in Gaza and the West Bank. After his honorable discharge, he joined the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) where for 8 years he was in charge of security of several classified facilities, as well as large cross-organization events. He was also responsible for security screening and visitor classification, security personnel training and drills and planning. He next joined the private sector, where he held senior positions in management, sales, and biz dev in the digital marketing industry. He joined Chameleon in 2023 with primary responsibility for supporting our clients in the Netherlands and Europe.
Jonathan earned his BA in History from Tel Aviv University and an MBA in Business Management from Ono College. He is fluent/conversant in Dutch, English, French and Hebrew.
Dave Haven - Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
Dave served 25 years in the U.S. Army entering service as an infantry paratrooper and subsequently as a hostage rescue specialist and counter-terrorism assaulter, sniper, and clandestine reconnaissance member of the Army Special Mission Unit. His mission experience operations in South and Central America, Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, and South-west Asia.
Post-retirement, Dave has worked in the private sector as a military and law enforcement consultant specializing in Security Threat and Vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and vulnerabilities mitigation planning. He has developed emergency action plans for both educational campuses and the commercial sector. Dave recently joined the Chameleon ranks to contribute his security expertise.
He earned a BA in Arabic language from the University of Pennsylvania and is also conversant in Spanish and Italian.
Dick van Leenen - Security Quality Assurance Manager & Trainer
Dick began his law enforcement career at the Rotterdam Police Department where for over two decades he worked on patrol, with the seaport and riot police, the air support and K9-units. He was then promoted to Lieutenant at the Rotterdam-Rijnmond PD motor unit. Later, he joined the tracking and detection dog training center of the Dutch National Police where he was in charge of K9 standards, certifications and quality control.
Next, Dick joined the Justice Department of Aruba where he was responsible for the K9-units for the Dept. of Corrections and the Customs authorities of Aruba and Sint-Maarten. He commanded the prison Special Response Team and served as Chairman of the prison management board.
Since returning to Holland, he works with the national police and began in 2024 as a Security Consultant and Trainer for Chameleon supporting our projects in the Netherlands, Aruba and wherever his skills are needed.
Marco Ferrarini - Security Intelligence Analyst
Marco began his career as a data analyst, applying his skills to a broad range of disciplines such as cybersecurity, financial markets and geolocation analysis. He then continued to work in analytics, in senior business intelligence positions in the payment industry. He worked on teams for Unilever, AstraZeneca, Microsoft Research and Bayer, among other international companies and research centers. In addition, he has worked on R&D projects for modeling organized crime and terror networks. And he has collaborated on applying machine learning techniques for network anomaly detection.
On a complementary path, he is a certified Italian Krav Maga instructor, as well as Shooting instructor.
Marco joined Chameleon in 2024 as a Security Intelligence Analyst.
He earned a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Leeds. He is fluent/conversant in English and Italian.
Avi Katz / Senior Consultant & Trainer
Avi has decades of hands-on experience in aviation security, intelligence operations, behavioral observation techniques, security management and training. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Golani Brigade, and later as a GSS Field Intelligence involved in clandestine intelligence operations, HUMINT source operations, and counterterrorism and counter espionage activities. Clients he has worked with include World Trade Center, U.S. Army and L.A. Sheriff. He earned a BA in Political Science from Haifa University and an MBA from Beer Sheva University. He is fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, English and German.
Anna Polishuk / Business Development Manager
Anna began her career as a business analyst, working for decades in the financial and entertainment industries. In 2002, she joined Chameleon’s ranks where today her focus is on growing the business and generally getting the word out. Anna earned her MA in Journalism and International Studies at the University of Florida. She is conversant in French, Hebrew and Spanish.