Southwestern City Schools was awarded the Readiness and Emergency Management in Schools (REMS) Grant in 2008 and 2010. As the Project Director, Gary was tasked with conducting Security and Vulnerability Assessments, writing the Emergency Response Plans, developing Food Defense and Pandemic Plans, Digital Mapping, training, and much more. He implemented a Visitor ID system in every building, sat on the steering committee for a new Parent Notification System, and was the Team Lead for the re-engineering of the district’s two-way communication system to meet the FCC Narrow-banding requirements and the interoperability requirements of Homeland Security. Gary secured funding for a Tabletop and FullScale Exercise to test the district’s ERP and the new radio system. Gary attributes the successes of South-Western City Schools directly to the relationships built with First Responders.

Gary earned his B.S. in Elementary Education from Ohio University in 1982 and his MS in Educational Leadership from the University of Dayton in 1988. In addition to his 30 years in education, he was a Police Officer for 23 years, working as a Juvenile Detective, Community Relations, bike patrol, and uniform patrol. Gary is a state certified School Resource Officer, a trainer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Law Enforcement Active Shooter Emergency Response (LASER), has extensive training in school violence, school law, threat assessment, gangs, and emergency response planning.

Gary is currently the CEO and President of Safeguard Risk Solutions. He continues to work with schools and businesses throughout the United States and overseas, sharing his experiences and best practices.