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Executive Protection Training for law enforcement and the security of public officials.
As a private sector executive protection training provider we have a few hurdles to jump before we can bid on contracts or even market our services. We are required to have the proper licenses, insurance, trained and certified instructors, approved lesson plans and working capital to cover expenses.
But within the executive protection training industry as a whole clients also have the options of unlicensed, uninsured and let’s be honest, untrained instructors and non-vetted programs.
And for the individual student looking for EP training you can take your pick of companies and trainers you have never heard of, industry giants with massive marketing budgets or the quiet professionals doing things the right way but are a little harder to find.
Law Enforcement and Protecting Public Officials
Unfortunately at a time of elevated threats to public officials and smaller training budgets law enforcement is increasingly responsible for close protection, but they lack the resources for training. And when money is found for training they now have to navigate the options from the federal or state LE academies and the private sector.
In the case of executive protection training for law enforcement one of the problems we see is former police officers opening training schools or ranges and decide to add executive protection training with their cousin as an instructor.
A former bodyguard to some B lister in Hollywood, cousin George has none of the experience or training to be teaching others, especially law enforcement.
We also have EP schools increasing their costs because the department may not have many other options. These trainers try to get what they can because they know this will be one and done program.
Then there is the real embarrassment, schools who only think they know what they are doing, and we find later they have outlived their usefulness with outdated curriculums and questionable instructors.
A Case in Point
Take for instance the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) article posted 12/6/2023 titled “Private Police Training Promoted Unconstitutional Tactics, Demeaned Women and Minorities, and Glorified Violence”
In the investigation it was found 240 New Jersey officers attended a taxpayer-funded private police training conference that apparently “taught unconstitutional policing tactics, glorified violence, denigrated women and minorities”, and this training “likely violated a myriad of state laws and policies”.
The article notes more than $75,000 in public funds was spent, “not including paid time off or paid training days, but the actual amount could not be determined”.
From the article it was noted that;
- Instructors advocated tactics that could violate people’s civil rights and be unconstitutional under both federal and state laws.
- Some instructors promoted a “warrior” approach to policing and dehumanized civilians, referring to them as “the pieces of shit of society” or using offensive memes.
- Many instructors it was found were “promoting views and tactics that were wildly inappropriate, offensive, discriminatory, harassing, and, in some cases, likely illegal”
And this was apparently a well-known police training provider with former and current officers as instructors. So, the question is how this was possible, I mean we are talking about law enforcement training and tax money being wasted.
Thankfully they were not attending executive protection training prior to an assignment on a detail for a public official.
The article notes that private, post-academy police training courses have “virtually no regulation in New Jersey”. So, it is on the departments and agencies to do their due diligence on the training before attending. And it’s possible there are other states that have experienced issues contracting with private training vendors.
A Look at ISA and Our Promise
So to assure law enforcement and other official government agencies as well as the corporate private sector Independent Security Advisors has voluntarily submitted our training programs to federal and state regulatory agencies, and we have accepted the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy standards of training and administration as our own.
We have met all the requirements for government contracts and have been awarded contracts with federal law enforcement agencies and those with close protection teams. You may find reviews of our programs in the GSA database.
Our programs are approved or accredited for state credentials, private sector EP licensing, law enforcement in-service credit and continuing education credit. Fully vetted by law enforcement so we can work with and serve law enforcement.
To ensure we always exceed what is required from our clients and students, our lesson plans are standardized, reviewed, updated and based on research of current best practices. Our instructors are vetted, receive continuous training and are certified with state regulatory and law enforcement agencies.
All of our training materials, instructor biography’s and administrative records are open to inspection and we welcome training officers and supervisors to visit any program we are conducting to audit classes.
Its All a Waste if…..
But all of our efforts are wasted if public officials ignore the threats to themselves, their families and staff.
Our training program goes to waste if the agencies and especially their leadership don’t take the threats seriously and decide to use Cousin George and his friends to provide their training.
Final Question
How many more articles are we going to see like the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) article posted 12/6/2023. Do tax payers need to lose $75.000 before agencies and departments get serious about training and vetting private sector providers?
What We Will Do For You
When it comes to executive protection training for law enforcement and the private sector Independent Security Advisors will continue to strive to offer the latest and most up to date programs, and we encourage any agency or department considering executive protection training to reach out to us.
Advice is free, and we are always happy to welcome your officers to a class as observers. We will also help your departments prepare in-house training by offering your instructors an opportunity to work as assistant instructors and role players when we conduct a program.
Please don’t fall victim to slick marketing or cousin George.
We are available at www.eptraining.us
Email [email protected]
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