Our Biographies!

Bernie Schipelliti has been involved in public safety since 1986, when he was appointed as a reserve police officer and completed training to become an Emergency Medical Technician at Northeastern University.  In 1989 he became a full time police officer for the Town of Burlington, where he is still employed.   Throughout his career he has concentrated on making traffic safety a priority and was named his department’s Traffic Safety Officer in 1998, a position he still holds.  Some of his proudest accomplishments include being named to Governor Patrick’s Junior Operator’s License Committee in 2008 (a position he still holds); being named Massachusetts’ Metro West MADD Officer of the Year in 2003; being a past president of the Massachusetts Safety Officer’s League; and being chosen to film the Massachusetts Click It or Ticket commercials.

He is trained as an accident reconstructionist and investigates fatal and serious crashes and as a Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspector performing roadside inspections of vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds.  He is a certified instructor in Massachusetts Driver’s Education, Traffic Occupant Protection Strategies, LIDAR / Radar (both speed measurement courses) and Child Passenger Safety. 

He currently conducts training classes for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Police Training Committee, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security; Highway Safety Division, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Triad Traffic Technology Inc., Safe Kids Worldwide and the Triad Driving Academy. 

Bernie completed his formal education at Western New England College where he earned a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice Administration.  He continues to maintain all of his certifications and has attended national traffic safety conferences annually since 1999.

He is married and has four children.

Ross Panacopoulos has 30 years of Law Enforcement experience starting in 1977 when he joined the United States Air Force and served for four years as a Law Enforcement Specialist in the U.K. and the U.S.A.  Ross obtained the rank of Sergeant prior to being honorably discharged in 1981.  In July of 1982 Ross worked as a Police Officer for the Town of Conway, New Hampshire where he served until his acceptance into the Massachusetts State Police Academy in December of 1982.  Upon graduation he was assigned to the Division of Field Services.  

In 1986 Ross completed training in the field of Accident Reconstruction and was assigned to the Collision, Analysis and Reconstruction Section. Ross achieved certification with the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR #299) and has remained certified since 1998. He continued taking numerous training courses in the field of Accident Investigation and Occupant Protection.  To date Ross has completed over 1000 hours of specialized training in these fields and has investigated and reconstructed over 750 crashes.  In 2001 he was assigned to the Traffic Programs section where he was able to spend more time doing what he liked best, instructing.  Ross has developed and instructed numerous training programs throughout New England and is a certified instructor for the Massachusetts State Police, Commonwealth of MA Municipal Police Training Committee, Commonwealth of MA Governor’s Highway Safety Bureau, Commonwealth of MA Registry of Motor Vehicles, Triad Traffic Technology Inc., Triad Driving Academy, SRR Training, Safe Kids Worldwide and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  

Ross retired after 25 years of dedicated service to the Massachusetts State Police where he achieved the rank of Sergeant. He is currently pursuing a fulltime teaching career in the private sector.