William (Bill) Harmening, M.A., B.A.

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Expert Witness & Consultant

William (Bill) Harmening is a distinguished expert in law enforcement, bringing over 37 years of experience in state law enforcement and high-profile investigations. Having retired as Chief Special Agent in Illinois, he led the unit responsible for investigating investment fraud statewide. Before this, Bill served as Deputy Chief of Investigations for the Illinois Attorney General's Office in Chicago, where he commanded the state's first high-tech crimes task force.

Since 2012, Bill has testified as an expert witness in police use-of-force cases nationwide. After his work in the 2015 Michael Brown case in Ferguson, MO, he quickly gained national recognition as one of the foremost experts in his field. To date, Bill has consulted in over 300 cases in 42 states, including some of the most high-profile cases in the nation, such as the George Floyd case in Minneapolis, MN.

His work with The Baker Law Firm began in 2019 as a consultant on cases involving Police Practices. Bill has become invaluable to the firm, serving as our resident expert and consultant in many legal cases that stem from instances of police brutality and police practices.

In addition to his law enforcement career, Bill has a rich academic background. He was an adjunct professor of criminology and forensic psychology, teaching first at Roosevelt University in Chicago and later at Washington University in St. Louis, one of the nation’s top-ranked institutions. There, he designed and implemented the undergraduate certificate program in Forensic Psychology, serving as its sole instructor.

Now residing in the peaceful hills of Tennessee, Bill focuses on writing. His recent book, The Deadly Force Script, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2023.