Ed Nowicki was ILEETA’s first Executive Director, and continued in his role as an ILEETA Charter Member, and member of the Advisory Board. Ed was also Executive Director of the National Criminal Justice Training Council (NCJTC) and a 33 year law enforcement veteran. Ed held a B.S. in Criminal Justice and an M.A. in Management. A recipient of many prestigious awards, Ed was been judicially recognized as a use of force expert in many courts across the nation and he has taught various use of force programs both across the nation and internationally. He developed the NCJTC Use of Force Program and was a Master Instructor in both the OCAT Program and the NCJTC Handcuffing Program, in addition to being an Instructor Trainer with the Tasertron TASER. Ed was a survivor of six separate shooting incidents, and he has authored a number of books and over 200 law enforcement articles. He also wrote the “Use of Force” column for Law and Order magazine.  Ed believed that ILEETA could help trainers better prepare criminal justice professionals for the difficult and dangerous work they do and thereby keep their communities safe.  Ed founded ILEETA in 2003 with a simple philosophy of great communications, benefits and an annual conference that has become the largest gathering of criminal justice trainers in the world.