Community & Workplace Violence - Lt. Brian Tholen

Webinar Only

Please register for BCPA Monthly Meeting by January 14, 2021 1:30 PM CT.  Registered members and guests will receive an email before the start of the meeting containing information about joining the webinar.

Presentation Title: 

Community & Workplace Violence: How you, your family, employees, and your business can be more aware, prepared and deter criminal acts of violence and prepare for civil unrest. 

Presentation Description

We will discuss trends of criminal activity within our community and provide strategies to better prepare you for any threats targeting your business and employees.  I will focus on how your business can effectively deter/prevent crime internally and externally.

• You will learn strategies on how to mentally prepare yourself, your business, and your employees for acts of violence that may occur.
• Lessons learned from the civil unrest in 2020 and how to prepare for any unrest in 2021
• What to do and how to survive an active shooter in public or at your business. 

Speaker name:   Lt. Brian Tholen - Edina Police Department

Speaker email address: BTholen@edinamn.gov

Speaker bio:

Lieutenant Brian Tholen began his career in Law Enforcement 25 years ago with the Edina Police Department.  He was assigned to the patrol division for 10 years where he became a field training officer, a defensive tactics instructor and was a member of the Southwest Metro SWAT Team Consortium.  He was promoted to Sergeant and worked an additional 4 years on Patrol and was given the position of Team Leader of the Edina SWAT Team. In 2008, he was assigned to the Investigative Division as a Detective Sergeant.  In 2014, he was promoted to Lieutenant where he now supervises 34 officers and 5 Sergeants who are assigned to the Edina Police Department Patrol Division.  He is also the Field Training Coordinator for Edina and the Team Commander for SWAT and the Crisis Negotiation Team.    

He has been instructing officers, first responders and firefighters throughout the metro in active shooter response protocol for the past 14 years.  During these trainings, he realized the critical need to teach businesses, employees, employers, and the public on how to help prevent and respond to violence within our communities.  He emphasizes the importance of Awareness, Prevention and ultimately, how to Survive.  During the unrest in May 2020 he helped facilitate coordinated police tactics within the western suburbs to deter and respond to any criminal behavior stemming from the riots. Most recently, he has been working with Edina businesses and residents on how to prepare for any future unrest that may occur in 2021.

He is a recent graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico and has a Sociology Degree from the University of St. Thomas.