Category Archives: Mike Wasilewski & Althea Olson

Retired Sergeant Edward Pijuan

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Retired Sergeant Edward Pijuan is a 30 year veteran of law enforcement service that includes providing 26 years of U.S. military service with the U.S. Army Special Forces National Guard, serving our country in deployments such as Operation Enduring Freedom and other international deployments; providing 16 years of first line supervision; and providing 10 years of investigative experience for the Miami-Dade Police Department.

He has provided 3 years of full- time supervisory tactical duties for the Special Response Team (SRT also known as SWAT) serving high risk search warrants as a tactical professional and handling tactical operations for the Miami-Dade Police Department. He is currently a Team Leader for the Crisis Negotiator Team of SRT, providing critical support to the crisis negotiator team when faced with crisis situations, hostages, career criminals, and barricaded subjects who posed a threat for law enforcement and the community at large.

He was awarded an outstanding record of supervisory performance running the spectrum of law enforcement operations. Retired Sgt. Pijuan has an abundance of long-term investigative experience involving conducting in-depth interviews, evidence gathering, and assimilating within a team environment. He has an extensive background in Special Forces operations at the operational detachment/team level.

Course Available:

The Constructs of Critical Stress Debriefing following a Critical Incident

Treating Cops: What the client wants you to know (for the mental health professional)

Instructors: Mike Wasilewski & Althea Olson

Counseling law enforcement officers can be uniquely challenging for the therapist. Policing is a demanding and often dangerous profession and its practitioners develop coping skills, and a physical and mental toughness, in order to meet those demands and dangers. Ironically, the very skills that enable them to survive street encounters often wreak havoc at home, in their personal lives, and within the political structure of their agencies. They can also be obstacles standing in the way of successful therapy.

In this course you will be introduced to the mindset and world of the cop, how they can impact the officer’s emotional and relational well-being and common obstacles you may encounter treating a police officer. And you will be introduced to the strategies and practices of a “Cop Friendly Therapist” designed to build rapport and respect between therapist and the police client, and to overcome the obstacles to successful therapy.

Understanding and Responding to the Emotionally Disturbed Person

Instructors: Mike Wasilewski & Althea Olson

Policing can be unpredictable, and there are few times this is truer than when an officer is responding to an incident involving an emotionally disturbed person (EDP).

The popular notion of the police as intrepid crime fighters – the thin blue line – is only part of the police role in society. Policing is about serving as well as protecting, and often that means responding to incidents involving the mentally ill and emotionally disturbed. These are some of the most common calls you will take on as a police officer so understanding mental illness and how best to respond to it is a critical job skill. In fact, mental disorders are likely to play a significant role in many of the crimes you investigate and knowing how to recognize and accommodate the mentally ill offender, victim, or witness will enhance your skill set.

This interactive class provides a solid foundation for understanding mental illness and practical instruction in “best practice” response. It is a valuable tool for your law enforcement career.

Survival Skills For Police Marriages

Instructors: Mike Wasilewski & Althea Olson

Think law enforcement is a tough job? Marriage is tougher! At least, building a truly successful, long-term, “riding-out-the-storms” marriage is hard, demanding work.

So, if law enforcement and marriage are both difficult and demanding endeavors, how hard must it be to build a successful law enforcement marriage where one or both partners is an LEO? Apparently, very much so if the evidence is to be believed. With divorce rates far exceeding those of the general public, the unique stressors of a law enforcement career put police marriages at high risk of failure.

Survival Skills for Police Marriages is just the course to provide the insight and skills to make your marriage not just survive, but thrive. Designed with couples in mind, we invite officers and their spouses (or any significant other) to attend together. Sure, law enforcement and marriage might both be tough but, if done right, are exciting, fun, and deeply rewarding!

Survival BEYOND the Street

Instructors: Mike Wasilewski & Althea Olson


Going home at the end of the day is the goal of every good cop, and mastery of the tactical skills necessary to physically survive a long career is key. But knowing how to survive the job emotionally is a too often neglected component of officer safety, and the very tactical skills that keep you alive on the street may even threaten you away from it.

“Survival BEYOND the Street” examines how a law enforcement career threatens officers’ home and personal lives, wearing away at officers’ ability to fit in with the society they are sworn to protect and leaving broken personal relationships in its wake. We then teach a practical and reality-based approach, focusing on skill development and practice, designed to teach off-duty survival skills, fix damaged relationships, solidify intact ones, and demonstrate how a well-rounded individual can be a better cop. The importance of balance, healthy detachment from work, and developing the “whole person” is emphasized.

Crossing Police Lines: Living life 360º

Instructors: Mike Wasilewski & Althea Olson


Being a cop is more than what you do, it is who you ARE!!! It’s how you think of and define yourself, and it’s a title to wear with pride. Law enforcement is a unique and challenging profession, practiced by men & women specially wired to take on those challenges.

Balancing on-and-off duty life is something we all face, and where many of us falter. Knowing how and when to “cross police lines” and lead a well-rounded life is crucial for personal – and professional – success.

This course examines common personal & professional roadblocks that prevent officers from leading a “360° life.” We teach a reality-based approach focused on developing the whole person. After all, a balanced cop is an energized cop.


Crossing Police Lines 
Date: 11/07/11
Time: 
8AM-4PM
Where: St. Louis County & Municipal Police Academy, St. Louis

View more/ Register 

Another Cop Killer

Instructors: Mike Wasilewski & Althea Olson

Depressive and anxiety disorders exact a terrible toll on police officers. This course examines the prevalence of depression and anxiety in law enforcement officers, the many (sometimes deadly) dangers they poses, and factors unique to the Job and to cops that may increase their likelihood within the ranks. Facts and myths about these disorders and their treatment will be clarified. Special emphasis on the roles of peers, supervisors, and mental health professionals in combating these destroyers are discussed.

Officer Mike Wasilewski, MSW & Althea Olson, LCSW

Mike & Althea have been married since 1994. Together they co-author two popular monthly columns for Officer.com & one monthly column for LawOfficer.com. They have taught together around the country and at the 2010 and 2011 ILEETA Conference & Expo to other police trainers.

Officer Mike Wasilewski, MSW, has been with a large suburban Chicago department since 1996. He holds a Master of Social Work degree from Aurora University and has served on his department’s Crisis Intervention & Domestic Violence teams. Mike is an adjunct instructor at Northwestern College.

Althea Olson, LCSW, has been in private practice in the Chicago suburbs since 1996. She has a Master of Social Work degree from Aurora University providing individual, couple, & group therapy to adolescents, adults, and geriatrics. Althea is also trained in Critical Incident Stress Management & is a certified divorce mediator.

Courses:

Police Morale For Supervisors 
Another Cop Killer
Crossing Police Lines: Living life 360º
Survival BEYOND the Street
Survival Skills For Police Marriages
Understanding and Responding to the Emotionally Disturbed Person
Treating Cops: What the client wants you to know (for the mental health professional)

Emotional & Relationship Survival for Law Enforcement