School Safety Advocacy Council

The Recognized Leader in School Safety



School Safety Professional Speakers Bureau

The School Safety Advocacy Council (SSAC) is the recognized leader in school safety training and services nationally. We posses the most knowledgeable and experienced cadre of school safety experts who combine their exceptional practical experience and knowledge with an engaging and professional style to captivate any audience. Whether it is a conference keynote presentation, professional workshop or breakout session, or a community-wide presentation our expert speakers will customize their presentation and educational content to meet your needs and audience expectations.

Available Professional Speakers

Sean is a 32 year veteran of law enforcement experience, over 25 years of direct school safety experience, and holds a Bachelors of Arts in Human Services from Springfield University, a Masters of Science in Administration of Criminal Justice from Western New England University, completed the FBI-LEEDA Executive Leadership Course, and is a graduate of the prestigious FBI National Academy-Session 239. Sean is considered a school safety and law enforcement expert by the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was a founding member of the U.S Department of Justice School Safety Technical Working Group, and U.S Department of Homeland Security.  

Sean Burke is considered one of the foremost experts and sought after speakers in school safety, law enforcement, and emergency management. He has traveled extensively and spoken before police officers and school personnel from the United States, Europe, Japan, Iceland, Canada, Australia, and the Caribbean. Sean currently is one of the featured instructors for the FBI National Academy Preventing Active School Shooting training’s. He also continues to speak regularly for corporations such as Motorola Solutions, CISCO, and Blackboard on educating clients on school safety technologies and internally on marketing to the educational and law enforcement sector.

Sean has authored numerous articles and research papers and been interviewed and quoted as an expert source in media journals from across the nation. Sean was selected to for the cover of Time Magazine’s Guns in America Issue (2018) for his work in school safety and continues to serve as a consultant and on air expert for numerous media outlets including CBS National News and Good Morning America. Sean is the former and only two-time President of the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) where he also served as a National Practitioner and a Senior Instructor for over 10 years. 

Topics: school safety and security management, law enforcement management, school based crisis preparation, school safety technology, school safety leadership, active school shooter, terrorist threat to schools and school based marketing

Curt Lavarello served as a twenty-eight year Law Enforcement Executive in South Florida.  During his tenure as a police officer, Curt has held assignments on road patrol, detective bureau, gang task force unit, traffic division and 18 years as a school resource officer (SRO) and Patrol and SRO Supervisor.  Curt sat on the committee that was responsible for developing the first School Resource Officer program in Broward County, Florida (Ft. Lauderdale) and was named South Florida’s law enforcement officer of the year in 1987 for his work with the youth in the North Fort Lauderdale area.  In 1994, Curt developed and served as the Director for the first youth/teen court program for Palm Beach County, Florida and that program went on to be recognized on national television as one of the largest teen diversion programs in the nation.  Curt was a founder, board member, vice-president, president and Executive Director of the National Association of School Resource Officers from 1991 until 2005. In May of 2005, Curt was named Executive Director for the School Safety Advocacy Council, which serves as the leading training organization for school districts and law enforcement agencies in the nation.

Curt has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada speaking about school related violence, bullying among youth and the potential for terrorism in schools.  He has been the focus of numerous articles and has been featured on ABC’s “Eye on Crime”, CBS Evening News, the CBS Television show, “The Defenders”, Fox News “Dayside”, CNN and World News with Peter Jennings.  Curt has also been featured as the guest on several National Talk Radio shows and currently serves as a news analyst for FOX News Radio on issues involving school violence.  Curt has authored numerous articles on the topic of school based policing and was responsible for developing the curriculum now in use to train school based police officers throughout the United States and Canada.  Curt has also served as an adjunct instructor for the University of North Florida (IPTM), the National School Safety Center (CA.) and the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.   Curt has worked closely with the State of Illinois, the Florida and Louisiana Attorney General’s Office and the Hawaii Department of Education on homeland security preparedness for schools initiative.  Curt has served as part of the school based policing focus group sponsored by the United States Department of Justice to formulate training on a national level to law enforcement.  Curt has worked with the U.S. Department of Justice/COPS office on the delivery of a standardized SRO curriculum, and the development of a homeland security curriculum for school based police officers and served on the Post Columbine High School Review Group in Colorado.

Curt has been invited to the White House on 3 occasions to take part in Presidential Conferences held on School Violence, under President Clinton, President Bush and Vice-President Biden.  Curt currently serves on the Juvenile Justice Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police.  In 2013, Curt served as a technical consultant for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s “1 to 1” Technology Rollout Initiative.

Tony Pustizzi began his career with the Coral Springs Police Department in 1988.  Over his 30-year tenure, he supervised every unit within the agency with a strong emphasis on investigations, including homicide and special investigations.  Additionally, he served on the SWAT team for 15 years, the last eight of which as team commander. He rose through the ranks to ultimately become chief of police in 2012.  He also served as the city’s interim city manager and retired in March 2018 as the chief of police/deputy city manager.  

Tony graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in criminology and law and received a master’s degree in public administration from Florida Atlantic University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Southern Police Institute Command Officers Development Course, the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar, Eckerd College’s Center for Creative Leadership Program and Florida Atlantic University’s Executive Leadership Program.

On February 14, 2018, a former student entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, killed 17 innocent people and injured another 17 students. Chief Pustizzi  along with members of his agency, arrived at the school within minutes. A complex law enforcement approach, including stopping the shooter and extracting victims from within the school, was initiated. Tony discusses many of the issues that ensued in communication and leadership that he observed that day and the unique challenges he experienced from his perspective.

Topics: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, active killer/school and workplace violence preparedness, leadership development, public safety and administration, and organizational process improvements

Jim served 29 years in the Sacramento Police Department. During his career, he led the investigation of many complex incidents while spending several years as a Major Crimes Division Homicide Sergeant and later as a Major Crimes Division Commander. Additionally, he was the  Commander of the Sacramento Police Department Office of Homeland Security. After retiring from his law enforcement career, Jim served as the Emergency Manager for the Washoe County School District where he was responsible for the comprehensive school crisis planning for more than 64,000 students in over 100 K-12 schools.  This crisis planning was tested in 2016 when the District endured it’s 4th on-campus shooting.  Jim is currently a Vice President of the School Safety Advocacy Council and travels the country conducting school safety assessments and lecturing on emergency planning for schools.

Jim has a Master of Science Degree in Emergency Services Management and he is a graduate of the Senior Management Institute of Policing, the California POST Command College and the FEMA Emergency Managers Academy. Jim is also a member of the  International Association of Emergency Managers.

Topics: building a comprehensive emergency management and crisis response program, crisis planning in the age of school violence, and human performance factors in emergencies.

 

Chief Timothy (Tim) Enos holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Florida State University and is a 29-year law enforcement veteran. Chief Enos currently serves as the Chief of Police for the Sarasota County Schools Police Department which oversees all safety and security for the school district’s 45,000 students and 46 sites. Prior to becoming Chief, Tim was the Bureau Commander of the Emergency Operations Bureau of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office which oversaw the consolidated communications center for Sarasota County. Chief Enos was also a supervisor of the Youth Services Section and the Crime Prevention Unit for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (FL) for 15 years. The SCSO Youth Services Section is a nationally recognized model of school policing by the National Association of School Resource Officers (2015 Model Agency of the Year) and by the School Safety Advocacy Council. The Youth Services Section was recognized by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office for excellence in 2005 by receiving the Unit Citation Award. Chief Enos has held assignments as a road patrolman, patrol field training officer, school resource officer, detective in the criminal investigations section, patrol corporal and sergeant and lieutenant in the Youth Services Section.  In 2006, Chief Enos was appointed by the Sarasota County Sheriff to serve as the interim police chief, overseeing the Sarasota County Schools Police Department.  Tim currently sits on the board of directors for the Florida Association of School Resource Officers as Executive Director and the School Safety Advocacy Council as an advisory board member.

Chief Enos continues to serve on the Senior Instructor Staff of the School Safety Advocacy Council and continues to travel, speak and consult for many governmental and non-governmental organizations. Chief Enos is also currently an instructor for the Florida Attorney General’s Office as well as a FDLE Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse and Advisory Board member and testified twice at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission for school policing best practices. Chief Enos is a graduate of the University of Louisville Sothern Police Institute 54th Command Officers Development Course as well as the 6th Florida Sheriff’s Institute Commanders Academy.

Topics: effects of social media on school violence, bullying and cyber bullying, school based policing, school based law enforcement leadership, missing and endangered children

Captain Rick Francis started with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office in 2007. He currently oversees the School Safety Division as the School Safety Director and is responsible for 66 schools with approximately 68,000 students and 8,000 staff members.

Captain Francis attended the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association Command Leadership Institute, the Police Executive Research Forum Senior Management Institute for Police, and the Southern Police Institute Command Officer Development Course. He is a member of several Boards, including Crimeline, School Health Advisory Board, Youth Commission, Positive Behavior Pathways Committee, Opioid Task Force, several state school safety workgroups, and the Domestic Security Task Force.

Captain Francis has given presentations to numerous other organizations, including the National Tactical Officers Association, Florida Sheriff’s Association, Crime Stoppers, Florida School Security Summit, Florida Superintendent’s Association, International Chiefs of Police Association and Florida School Finance Officers Association.  He’s been featured or published in Police Executives Research Forum (June 2019), Life Magazine, School Safety (July 2019, April 2018, and July 2017) and Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission Nov 2019 report. He’s also contributed to the Homeland Security Information Network (schoolsafety.gov) and School Safety Specialist. He’s presented to the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Public Education to discuss the ways his schools have become safer. Captain Francis has gone before the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission on three separate occasions to discuss emergency drills, reunification, and school safety policies. As a result of the feedback received and recognized need, he co-authored a white paper on the K-12 Reunification Process. He has presented his work to the Florida State Senate and House and donated the materials he’s developed over his years as Director of District School Safety and Security so that his colleagues can readily have access to them.

Topics: K-12 family reunification, student threat & behaviors, Assessment, young active killers, critical responses to school incidents, and comprehensive school safety and security 

Please Contact us to book your speaker.