I was recently asked how I got into the executive protection field, and after thinking about it for a little bit…here is my response. I was a police lieutenant in Mason, OH and was assigned as the Incident Commander for the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament. This is a very large tournament that is played in Mason each year and draws all the biggest names in the world of tennis. While coordinating and planning the police response for this event I had the opportunity to meet and work with Mike Wylie and Matt Warken. Mike was the security manager and Matt is the player protection manager. The tree of us were able to work extremely well together and looked for ways to help each other. I started using police officers to assist Matt with the movements, and autograph signing events, involving high-profile players. This involvement immediately sparked my interest in protection, and I enjoyed working with these guys who did it so well.
I thought if I am going to do this, I want to be really good at it. There was no reason to get involved in something to be average. I asked both Matt and Mike what I should do to get the right training. I was encouraged to check out the Executive Protection Institute (EPI) because they were both graduates and thought it would be the right fit for me. I attended several protective trainings that involved shooting and driving fast, but then had the chance to attend the EPI Providing Executive Protection Program in October of 2019. This was by far the EP training that I got the most of of and feel that it helped form my style of executive protection.
For several years I was involved in executive protection details while off-duty and had the opportunity to expand my network across the country. In October of 2022, I retired from policing and have been consulting and providing executive protection services. In March of 2023, I launched Complete Life Protection Services LLC here in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. I owe much of my success to the network of professionals who gave my guidance along the way and encouraged me to attend EPI.
Jeff Burson is an Executive Protection Institute graduate of class 85 and a member of the Nine Lives Associates.