Stepping Back After Two Decades

For 21 years I’ve woken up every day focused on building and growing Lexipol and Praetorian Digital, which is why I’m pleased to announce that I’m stepping back from my day-to-day role as CEO, ending a journey that began when I founded Praetorian in 1999 and culminated in the merger with Lexipol early last year. Over the past year, the two companies have come together to tackle some of public safety’s biggest challenges and I am thrilled to continue on as a Board Member and Strategic Advisor to oversee Lexipol’s continued growth and pursuit of its mission.

It’s been an incredible journey, and the changes I have seen in public safety over those 21 years – to which Praetorian and Lexipol have contributed – are staggering. In many ways, our generation’s defining public safety events have been fitting bookends. After 9/11, PoliceOne.com became the go to resource for law enforcement to stay up to date on the rapidly evolving threat of terrorism and share best practices on how to respond. We pushed hard to launch a secure alerting service as well as new content formats and online recruitment tools. And today, as COVID-19 has devastated the entire world and placed incredible strain on public safety, we’ve marshalled our impressive resources – editorial, policy and learning content, grant resources and our learning management system – and provided them at no cost to assist all of public safety and local government in their fight against COVID-19. Both responses to these unprecedented threats underscore what has been our mission throughout, to which we have remained steadfast: to use digital technology and content to help first responders better protect their communities and come home safe.

This journey began when I moved from Boston to San Francisco at age 24 to start Praetorian. We found a small office in the southern part of the city next to a fish market, down the street from a recycling center and above a fruit wholesaler. The smell was not one of success. Looking back, it’s hard to believe we were able to survive the dotcom crash, much less thrive and merge with Lexipol to become the 300 person strong market leader we are today. We’ve built a network of 2.4MM first responders representing 60% of those in the US; published more than 300,000 articles and 4,000 online courses; developed 16,000 policies; served up 1.5MM training course completions; sent hundreds of millions of email newsletters; received more than half a billion visits to our online resources and tools; and, finally, have directly helped departments receive more than $250 million in grant funding. 

It’s a legacy I will forever be proud of, and it has been a great honor to serve the public safety community for so many years. Our law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and correctional officers put their lives on the line every day and words cannot express my gratitude for their ongoing service to keep us safe. It’s a sentiment often expressed, but through my work over these last two decades, I’ve witnessed many times over their heroism and sacrifice as well as their critical need for more support, training and resources. 

I’d like to deeply thank my team and the customers, partners and former colleagues I’ve partnered with over the last 21 years. It has been my privilege to work with each of you. You have helped make a major dent in some of our nation’s biggest challenges and advance a mission that is more important than any one of us. I’d also like to thank the Riverside Company for their foresight in combining Praetorian and Lexipol and their continued support.

In my new role, I’ll be working to expand Lexipol’s mission to serve those on the front lines of public safety - an imperative that is even more important during these challenging times. The move will allow me to shift my attention from day-to-day operations and focus on strategic direction, corporate development and M&A as well as take a breather and pursue other entrepreneurial and investment activities. The next 24 months will bring unprecedented opportunities in SaaS, online education, content and public safety and I’m open to new ideas, so please don’t hesitate to reach out. Stay safe during these difficult times.