Leadership Beyond the Badge: José Medina Training SWAT

Leadership beyond the badge

The danger for police officers worldwide has grown exponentially over the past few years.  Assaults on officers and injuries resulting from assault on officers have steadily risen over the past three years to epidemic levels.  The numbers are staggering and frightening for the people charged with protecting us and our local communities.

According to the Law Enforcement Bulletin provided by The FBI Training Division

• Assaults on law enforcement officers increased 11.2% from 2020 to 2021.
• Assaults against officers involving weapons increased 10.5%, from an estimated 72,300 incidents in 2020 to an estimated 79,900 incidents in 2021.
• The estimated number of officers sustaining at least one injury from the assaults increased 18.3% from 2020 to 2021.

There are numerous reasons why these numbers are on the rise and depending on what source you look at, there are a variety of theories that vaguely answer the question why.   The one concrete and necessary piece of the puzzle that is an absolute priority is the need for police training.

For over 25 years, Jose Medina served his community with honor and dignity inside a large and busy New Jersey police department. Growing up in the Puerto Rican section of a small New Jersey town, Jose found out quickly who the good guys and the bad guys were.   Working hard, getting good grades, and chipping in for his family through an afterschool job, Jose found structure and discipline. Out of high school, Jose joined the United States Marine Corps, where he fit in perfectly.  Continuing that legacy of discipline that he learned very early in his life.

After his time was up, his next step was very obvious. Continue this life of service and become a police officer.   A man like Jose Medina stands out in a crowd. He carries himself proudly and is somebody that is just seen as knowing what to do. His confidence exudes from every step and every movement.

Getting a job as a police officer in New Jersey is a difficult task as it is a competitive job market. Candidates such as Jose are hard to come by so he was picked up rather quickly. Once inside, he found his calling.  Coming from a military background that focuses on the maxim that the best trained soldiers win the war, Jose took this mindset into his new career by joining the SWAT team very early in his life as a police officer. 

The training that a SWAT team must endure and be prepared for is overwhelming. At the time Jose joined the police department,  training standards were lackluster and insufficient. Jose quickly identified the deficiencies in the system and knew that he could train a more effective and disciplined team.  Asked by his supervisors if he could create a training program to make a successful SWAT and response team, Jose took the bull by the horns without asking and without hesitation.  He contacted the LAPD, who at the time was the premier SWAT program in the United States, and was given their standards for their SWAT officers. The amount of information sent to Jose was overwhelming, but he was committed to building the best team that could become a model throughout the state of New Jersey.  

The Criminal Justice Degree Hub writes: After being accepted, SWAT officers undergo about 15 to 30 weeks of specialized training. The topics include crisis situations, self-defense, weaponry, hostage negotiation, and crowd control.

A highly successful career in Special Weapons And Tactics as well as Emergency Response Teams (ERT) elevated Jose’s knowledge base and allowed him to create his very own training protocol by creating Team APC.   Awareness Protection Consultants LLC was born out of the desire to create a more well-rounded and better trained officer and leader. Jose’s outreach did not specifically target police departments, but also the corporate world to prepare them for critical incidents of every type. With a properly prepared curriculum and a passion for information, Jose has emerged in a field, where weaving through the misinformation can be exhausting, and come out as a true voice of authority. Jose has traveled all over the world, embarking his knowledge on those willing to listen.

In an era where Police budgets are being cut on a daily basis, Jose feels that there is a need for even more police training. To tackle the rigors and needs of a new form of policing. One filled with preparation and readiness. Jose gets down the basics and exemplifies real world situations with the true hope of having that trainee go home to his family after their shift. There are no truer words that Jose will speak beyond his description of how Team APC train their students “ we do not give you anything exotic or erotic, but we will humble you”

We need more men like Jose Medina, willing to take the reins through love and compassion for their fellow human being and prepare them for any battle that may come their way.

Jose Medina- Training SWAT to Make The World a Better Place

Jose L. Medina– the 27-year veteran and Leader of Law Enforcement and 21 year owner of Awareness Protective consultants, doing business as Team APC-Medina Tactical Dynamics. Jose has an extensive background in training and consulting for Law Enforcement, Military, School Educators and Corporate Industries. Jose Medina started his consulting firm to fill the gap in advanced education in the field of tactical and situational awareness. Months after the 1999 Columbine shooting, he was deemed the task of forming and creating his departments Emergency Services Unit. The focus was primarily geared towards active shooter response and eventually led into area of high risk warrant service operations conducting investigations with local, county, state and federal authorities. the first ever Active Shooter Emergency Response Plan (ASERP) for the Port Authority Police Y. focusing on threat assessment and responses to the tri-state international airport.

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