Company Name: Global Police Solutions, LLC
Headquarters: Conway, South Carolina
Signature Product: Training Classes
Website: http://www.globalpolicesolutions.com/
James C. Lilley, Founder of Global Police Solutions, found law enforcement training courses to be boring and outdated. He recognized the need to offer the police community better-quality, hands-on training courses that instill professionalism and competence. His company, Global Police Solutions, does just that: certified instructors provide relatable, on-the-job experiences that enable students to achieve results that exceed expectations.
Where did your company name originate?
A good friend and I came up with the company name in February 2011 while working at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq. After deciding to form a company, we began to think of some things that would really spell out who we were and what we offered.
What was the inspiration behind starting your company?
After several conversations with other law enforcement instructors working the police mission in Iraq, we began to realize that we all felt the same way about classes we attended while on the job. And that was, for the most part, that they were boring, outdated, and instructed by someone who had been out of law enforcement for 15 or 20 plus years, and decided they wanted to teach! After the first hour, you looked at your watch and started to think, ‘when is lunch’. We formed Global Police Solutions, with this thought in mind: Do it different, better than the others, more professional, and above all, make a positive impact on our law enforcement brothers and sisters.
Why do you believe your products are essential to the police community?
We live in a very litigious society. Everyone expects law enforcement and emergency services workers to be perfect and without fault. You and I know this will never be, as no one is perfect. So, we must provide the best skills training possible. We have to instruct in a way that teaches and instills the necessary tools required to function in today’s society, and not just spew out information and hope people get it. Our instructors make sure students understand the information, skills and techniques that we bring to the classroom.
What has been the biggest challenge your company has faced?
Being the new guy on the block and getting exposure has been our biggest issue. There are several large, established training companies out there, with whom law enforcement is very familiar. As a former Training Division Commander for a large department, I certainly know this to be true. Officers who have been to our classes quickly found out though, this is a different, more effective experience.
What makes your company unique?
What makes us unique is, we employ a “hands-on” approach to learning. Our instructors get the students involved in the training, and demonstrate a genuine concern for their understanding of the material. If an officer sits in our class and we have not conveyed the information in a way they can understand, then we have wasted that officer’s time, and failed both the officer, and their agency. At Global Police Solutions, failure is not an option. We use various methods of instruction to ensure a quality presentation. The officers in our classes are our first priority. We keep officers comfortable by providing drinks and snacks during our classes because we have found from past experience that if you are hungry or thirsty, you are not able to concentrate, learn or retain information. So, we make sure they have refreshments readily available during class.
What do your customers like best about you and your products?
The fact that we offer a fresh, hands-on approach to law enforcement instruction, coupled with the fact that our certified instructors have real world experience. We use on-the-job experiences during lectures so they can relate to the subject matter being presented. This method allows us to engage them in class discussion and keep them involved.
What is the most rewarding part of serving the first responder community?
Having students walk up to you after class, shake your hand, and say “thank you”. Hearing students say things like, “this is the best class I have ever been to in my fifteen years of law enforcement”, or when they write on their class critique forms, “Loved the class, can’t wait for level two”, or “I love coming to a GPS class, you guys actually care about us and it shows,” or when they talk about the passion displayed by one of our instructors in class. When we hear this and read this from our students, it lets us know we really are making a difference in their lives, and hopefully, maybe some of what they learned from us will help to keep them safe from injury and litigation one day. This is why we do what we do. It is our way of giving back to the law enforcement and emergency services community.
Do you support any charitable organizations within public safety?
We support, and are recognized by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association, who support and help so many different functions within the law enforcement community, as well as the Horry County Sheriff Foundation which provides scholarships to children of law enforcement officers.
Is there any fun fact or trivia that you’d like to share with our users about your company?
In a Global Police Solutions class, it benefits the officers to participate in discussions or answer questions, as we reward such acts with giveaways such as small police flashlights, gun bags, handcuff cases, range glasses, gun cleaning kits, etc. Everyone wants to get involved once that first giveaway comes out!
What’s next for your company? Any upcoming projects or initiatives?
We have been interviewing new instructors who have very unique skill sets such as a Psychologist, a Correctional Facility Director, and an Assistant Bureau Chief of a highly specialized investigative unit and hope to have them on board very soon. We are also looking at putting together Webinar sessions. This helps to get more classes out to more students, however, we feel you lose some of that personal, hands-on instruction that defines Global Police Solutions. So, it’s something we are mulling over. I’m sure we will devise a way to instill our method of instruction in webinars. With us, it’s not about quantity, it’s all about the quality.
Check out a schedule of upcoming Global Police Solutions courses at http://www.globalpolicesolutions.com/training.html.
