365 days, 12 months, 52 weeks, 8,760 hours. However you measure it, 2019 was a year packed with changes, challenges and accomplishments for public safety agencies and their constituents. Here at Lexipol, we’re committed to continuously enhancing our offerings, learning from our customers and helping public safety and local government personnel better serve their communities. And 2019 gave us many opportunities to do just that!
So even as we gear up for many more exciting adventures in 2020, we’re taking a quick look back at some of the highlights from 2019.
The Big Headline
Hands-down our biggest news of the year was the merger between Lexipol and Praetorian Digital, the digital media company behind PoliceOne, FireRescue1, EMS1, CorrectionsOne and EfficientGov.
The merged company, which retains the Lexipol name, offers online learning, state-specific policies and procedures, grant assistance and marketing solutions, as well as award-winning digital media communities for public safety and local government professionals.
Although our collaboration is still in its early stages, we have big plans to use this unique platform to provide a single, comprehensive source to address critical education, training and policy needs among public safety and local government agencies. Stay tuned!
Notable New Products
The public safety and local government world is constantly changing, which means Lexipol’s products and services must be, too. In 2019, we reviewed more than 11,000 federal and state bills and regulations and issued nearly 6,000 policy updates to meet legislative changes and maintain pace with evolving best practices. We created a policy solution for local government agencies, expanded our fire policies solution to Tennessee fire departments and rolled out the Accreditation Workbench to help law enforcement agencies and corrections agencies significantly reduce the time and effort needed to prepare for and execute an accreditation assessment.
Responding to feedback from our customer onboarding process as well as detailed analysis on how public safety agencies implement new policies, we made some changes in our Professional Services offerings, which help agencies customize and implement Lexipol policies. Now, agencies can select services from Implementation Policy Tiers, each representing about 20% of the Lexipol policy manual.
As important as our products and services is the role Lexipol plays in helping public safety personnel stay on top of evolving trends and issues.
Training has always been one of the pillars of the Lexipol offering, and in 2019 we expanded our efforts significantly, creating more than 450 new online learning courses and issuing 360 Daily Training Bulletins for law enforcement agencies, 240 for corrections facilities and 120 for fire departments. New course highlights included:
- Hundreds of short tactical videos perfect for roll-call training and full-length courses such as Financial Controls for Preventing Theft in Fire Departments, Investigating Deaths in Jails and Drone Use for First Responders
- An information technology security awareness course to meet the new Texas requirement for all government personnel to annually complete a certified cybersecurity training program
- EMS1 Academy certified as an EMS Continuing Education Sponsor for Pennsylvania EMS and as a certified training provider in New Jersey
- The full course library from PoliceOne Academy certified in South Carolina, Indiana, Texas and Pennsylvania
Advancing the Conversation
As important as our products and services is the role Lexipol plays in helping public safety personnel stay on top of evolving trends and issues. In 2019 our digital media communities covered active shooter events, natural disasters and the intersection between politics and public safety. From exclusive training articles to product analysis, the content on these sites is much too comprehensive to summarize here, so we’ll just give you a quick taste of some notable articles and compilations you might have missed:
- Sgt. Jennifer Grasso shared why she doesn’t like the word “scary” and how she broke the glass ceiling as the first and only female officer in the LAPD SWAT unit
- FDNY EMS Chief Lillian Bonsignore, the highest ranking woman in the department, told FireRescue1, “never let somebody else tell you what you can and cannot do.”
- A Texas firefighter returned to duty after losing his leg, relying on sheer determination, the department’s commitment to his return to duty, and the support of his fire family.
- More than 4,200 officers provided feedback for a first-of-its-kind study on law enforcement response to people in crisis (full report available here).
- Special coverage included PoliceOne’s Guide to FirstNet, FireRescue1’s Risk Management at Every Level digital edition, CorrectionsOne’s Recruitment Toolkit and EMS1’s 2019 EMS Trend Report.
Taking a (Quick) Bow
Although we firmly believe in not resting on our laurels, we’re proud to be recognized for our efforts to enhance the safety and effectiveness of public safety and local government professionals.
In 2019, we had more than a few occasions to blush, including when Lexipol co-founder Gordon Graham was honored with the Howard W. Rayon Distinguished Service Award from the Fire Services Training Institute, Lexipol CEO Alex Ford (who led Praetorian Digital before its merger with Lexipol) was named to Folio magazine’s Rising Star Honorees in the C-Suite category, PoliceOne won an Eddie Award for Excellence in Journalism for the digital edition “Officer Safety on the Road,” and EMS1 Editor-in-Chief Greg Friese won a Neal Award for Best Commentary/Blog.
But our highest honor comes in the opportunity to empower leaders in high-risk industries across this nation, helping you become safer, more effective and better prepared. We look forward to serving you in 2020!
