Team

The Vistelar Team

Vistelar consists of a team of experts in point-of-impact human conflict located throughout North America and in the UK. Vistelar’s management team is based in Milwaukee, WI.

Allen Oelschlaeger – Director

Allen is a co-founder of Vistelar and leads the business. He has over 20 years of experience as a corporate executive for such companies as Eli Lilly and Company and GE Medical and, since the late 90s, has had leadership roles in several growing businesses. Allen has an MBA from the Wharton School and has been part of marketing faculty at the University of Wisconsin. He is the author or co-author of several books and is a speaker and trainer for the company.

Gary Klugiewicz – Director

Gary is a co-founder of Vistelar and leads the verbal-skills component of our training programs. His background includes 25 years with the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department, five years as a Calibre Press Street Survival Seminar Instructor, national champion fighter in Knockdown Karate, advisor to Force Science Research Center and Killology Research Group, and subject matter expert and program developer for PoliceOne.com. Gary is widely published in law enforcement periodicals and online publications and is a master instructor for the company.

For a more detailed summary of Gary’s background, go to Verbal Defense & Influence Origins.

Dave Young – Director

Dave is a co-founder of Vistelar and leads the physical-alternatives component of our training programs. His background includes corrections and law enforcement in the state of Florida, gate sentry, patrol officer, watch commander, investigator, Special Reaction Team (SRT) Team member and commander in the United States Marine Corps. He has participated as a control system designer for both military and civilian authorities. Dave is widely published in law enforcement periodicals and online publications and is a master instructor for the company.

For a more detailed summary of Dave’s background, go to Tactical Training Origins.

Kati Tillema – Partner

Kati joined Vistelar in 2010 and runs day-to-day operations. Her previous experience includes providing legal assistance to low-income clients and working in the inner city of Milwaukee to combat criminal activity. She earned her J.D. from Marquette University Law School and has used her legal expertise extensively within various community service organizations. Kati is a speaker and trainer for the company.

William Singleton – Partner

Bill joined Vistelar in 2010 and runs sales and marketing. He is a 13-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department where he helped create the award- winning Students Talking It Over with Police (STOP) program. Bill was named a Business Journal of Milwaukee’s Top 40 Under 40 (2012) and White House Champions of Change for Building Bridges Between Youth and Law Enforcement (2015). He holds a Master’s Degree in Dispute Resolution from Marquette University and is a speaker and trainer for the company.

Additional Team Members

• Kate Mau – Office Manager/Customer Service Specialist
• Evan Oelschlaeger – Marketing Specialist
• Jeff Klugiewicz – Video and Audio Expert
• James Lewitzke – Webmaster

Consultants, Trainers, Advisors

Vistelar has a nationwide network of speakers, who can enhance almost any event and trainers, who have proven effectiveness with all types of audiences. To learn more about a specific individual, please click on a specific name or scroll through biographies below.

Trainers

Mike Delvaux

 Peter Jaskulski | Gary Klugiewicz | Joel Lashley

 John Nebl | Anthony Pinelle

Jill Weisensel | Dave Young

 Advisory Board Members

• Fred Carsky
• Jack Hoban
• John Fallon
• Chan Lee
• Coach Bob Lindsey
• Thomas Poellot
• Joseph Potterton
• Robert C. Willis

Mike Delvaux

Mike retired from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections in January of 2013 after more than 32 years of service. Over the years he worked as an officer, sergeant, lieutenant, and captain and for the last 14 years of his career as an Administrative Captain where his duties, in part, included coordinating the work schedules of 230 security staff and 12 security supervisors; developing and modifying institution operations and procedures; developing, training and implementing emergency preparedness plans; and acting as the Security Director designee for his facility.

Mike was also very involved in training throughout his career, both within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, which governs state correctional institutions, and with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which governs city and county law enforcement offices and correctional facilities. He was a Master Instructor (instructor trainer) for over 17 years in the DOC and still holds a DOJ Master Instructor certification in Principles of Subject Control (POSC), Wisconsin’s defensive tactics program, which is defined as, “a system of verbalization skills coupled with physical alternatives”.

Mike is considered a use of force expert. He was a member of his facility’s emergency response team for over 25 years and its field commander for 5 of those years. He has held instructor certifications in an array of use of force subjects including, defensive tactics, firearms, incapacitating agents, and impact weapons. He was a member of the DOC Use of Force Committee and the DOJ POSC Advisory Committee.

Mike was also involved in training outside of his field as well. He owned and operated a martial art studio throughout the 1990’s and has taught verbal and physical defensive tactics in his community and at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College since 1992.

Even with his extensive experience with “physical alternatives” i.e. the use of force, Mike is known to emphasize the “verbalization skills” aspect of his training. He really believes that convincing a person to voluntarily comply or cooperate is powerful and is always preferable to resorting to physical force if it is at all possible.

He believes strongly in the concepts and over the years has trained thousands, not only in his field of corrections, but also law enforcement officers, casino employees, public service utility employees and martial arts studios amongst others.

Mike has said that in his 32 years in corrections he feels one of his greatest accomplishments was, by simply applying the ideals he learned in Verbal Defense and Influence, he helped to foster a more professional and respectful culture that did not always exist in the field of corrections.

For the next phase of his life Mike has set a personal goal of helping others from all walks of life learn to communicate better in challenging situations and when dealing with difficult people, and to help them develop that same respectful culture in their lives, even in the midst of stressful situations, which he believes has the potential to reduce conflict and make people’s lives safer and more pleasant.

Click Here to visit Mike’s personal website.

 

Peter Jaskulski

Pete retired at the rank of Captain having having served 24 years with the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office. He also been a paid-on-call firefighter/EMT since 1981 and currently holds the rank of Assistant Chief with the Hales Corners Fire Department in Wisconsin.

During his public safety career Pete taught various subjects in law enforcement including Defensive Tactics, Firearms, Jailer Training, Ethics, Tactical Skills and Verbal Defense and Influence (VDI).

In his spare time Pete has umpired high school and college baseball since 1981.

He now spends his training time integrating the VDI concepts into all professions such as law enforcement, firefighting, EMS, public transportation, public code enforcement and umpiring.

To visit Pete’s personal website, Click Here

Gary Klugiewicz

Gary Klugiewicz, who heads up our Consultant team at Verbal Defense & Influence, is well placed among the top law enforcement trainers in the nation.

Gary has developed programs for police, corrections, mental health, security professionals and the military, including team tactics training for SWAT, CERT, and Crowd Management Teams. He is the developer of the Active Countermeasures System of Unarmed Blocking and Striking Techniques. Additionally, he is a former Street Smart Survival instructor.

Gary’s known for his high-intensity approach to training, a reflection of his years as a national champion fighter in Kyokushin Karate (he’s fought both here and in Japan). Since then, his name has become synonymous with safe but realistic, intense, dynamic simulation training.

Gary is a gifted educator who understands the needs of adult learners. His teaching encompasses sub-skill development, guided discovery, decision making simulation scenarios, and positive group debriefing techniques.

Gary is often called to testify as a use-of-force defense expert, defending scores of officers in legal proceedings. He is a former captain with 25 years of experience within the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department.

He is currently employed by PoliceOne as a use-of-force expert, researcher, program developer and training specialist; Gary is also the director of Active Countermeasures Instructional Systems (ACMi® Systems), a partner in the Vistelar consortium.

More about Gary:

1. During his last years with the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department, Gary headed up a special management unit for the mentally ill: “When I retired, there was some question whether I would be released or not … I related too well to the persons displaying signs and symptoms of mental illness.”
2. Kyokushin Karate is also known as “Knockdown Karate;” Gary is the survivor of a black belt testing procedure in which he had to fight 3-minute rounds against a new opponent. He fought in 30 consecutive rounds.
3. Gary’s Curriculum Vitae is 38 pages long. It’s either a throwback to his law enforcement days where you “document everything, or it didn’t happen.” Or, he concedes, it’s because he just can’t remember it all (see #2).
4. Leaving nothing to chance, Gary travels to training engagements with a full range of audiovisual equipment. In airports around the country, Gary is profiled as HEBV (Habitual Excessive Baggage Violator).

To visit Gary’s personal website, Click Here

Joel Lashley

Senior Officer Joel Lashley is a Crisis Management and Defensive Tactics Instructor who has worked as a public safety professional for over 25 years, including 18 years of service in the health care setting. He also co-developed a program for managing the challenging behaviors of children, adolescents, and adults with autism and other cognitive disabilities for police officers, corrections officers, and healthcare providers.

Joel leads the training program for hospital, clinical and social outreach staff in clinical violence management at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, the only level-one pediatric trauma center in the region.  Joel is a trainer, program developer and consultant on forensic patients, behavioral restraint, and special needs clients and subjects. He has trained nursing, clinical, social work, psychiatric, education, law enforcement and other public safety professionals, in the management of clients in crisis and those with cognitive disabilities. He has consulted to healthcare systems, school districts, police departments, and crisis management companies.

Joel is a certified instructor for Interventions for Patients with Challenging Behaviors®, Principles of Subject Control (POSC®), and Verbal Defense & Influence. Joel has developed models for the management of forensic patients or ‘patient prisoners’ in the clinical setting.

Doug Lynch

Doug has 20+ years in Law Enforcement. During his career, he has been a Crisis Negotiator, Trainer, Crime Prevention Officer, Rescue Team Diver and Dispatcher.

He serves as the Director of Training for the Arizona Crime Prevention Association (http://www.ACPA.net) and has been a foster parent. He specializes in communicating under stress and training others to do so. He is trained by FEMA in volunteer coordination and management and trains many of his local citizen volunteer groups.

He has a comfortable ease to his training style that helps facilitate learning. The only thing he is more passionate about than his work is his family: wife Doreen, two adopted children and three dogs.

To visit Doug’s personal website, Click Here

John Nebl

John Nebl is a police sergeant with over 27-years of experience as a suburban Chicago police officer. He currently is assigned as the Community Relations Sergeant and serves as his agencies Public Information Officer dealing with the Chicago media. His work has been recognized with awards on the local, county, state, and national level. Most recently Mr. Nebl became the first person in the State of Illinois to receive the prestigious certification as a National Crime Prevention Expert (Advanced) from the National Crime Prevention Association.

Mr. Nebl has been a trainer and speaker for the past 26-years. Initially his focus was on law enforcement matters instructing use of force, defense tactics, and firearms. In 1999 be brought the Crime Free Multi-Housing program to his community and was subsequently asked to be a National Trainer for the program. Since then he as trained thousands of rental property managers around the country in strategies aimed to reduce and prevent criminal activity.

In 2001 Mr. Nebl was given the opportunity to become certified as a Verbal Defense & Influence instructor. Over the last 11 years Mr. Nebl has trained thousands of law enforcement officers in how to use words effectively to deal with difficult persons and how to communicate while under stress. He has trained over 1,000 recruit officers in the Cook County Department of Corrections Academy. Most recently Mr. Nebl was invited to join the Vistelar Group as a speaker, trainer, and consultant for Verbal Defense and Influence.

Mr. Nebl has been extensively interviewed, quoted, and featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles regarding the Crime Free Multi-Housing program and the topic of Crime Prevention. Mr. Nebl has also appeared on television and radio newscasts and interview / talk show programs. He has served as a presenter or keynote speaker for the Municipal Clerks of Illinois spring seminar, Illinois Association of Code Enforcement quarterly training seminar, Schaumburg Park District managers and administrators annual training, Northwest Police Academy (suburban Chicago command officers), Illinois Crime Prevention Association annual conference, and several International Crime Free Association annual conferences.

Mr. Nebl was an honorable mention recipient as a runner-up for the 2003 Police Officer of the Year from the International Association of Chief of Police and Parade Magazine. He was the 2004 Illinois VFW Law Enforcement Officer of the year and received the Cook County Sheriff Law Enforcement Award of Merit in 2000. Mr. Nebl has received nine Honorable Mentions and one Chief’s Award of Merit.

Mr. Nebl lives in the Chicago area with his wife of 27-years and their two German Short-hair Pointers. The Nebl’s have three adult children that reside in Washington, DC, Ohio, and suburban Chicago. Mr. Nebl is an amateur (ham) radio operator having spoken to other “ham’s” in 75 countries around the world as well as at the South Pole and on-board the International Space Station. He is also an avid amateur astronomer.

To visit John’s personal website, Click Here

Tony Pinelle

Anthony “Tony” L. Pinelle was an employee of the State of Colorado for more than thirty-three years. He completed psychiatric technician training at the Colorado State Home and Training School and was licensed as a Psychiatric Technician with a developmental disabilities option. He worked seven years as a Licensed Psychiatric Technician before pursuing a career in law enforcement.

Tony retired, June 30, 2009, as the Chief of Public Safety for the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, where he was responsible for directing and managing all security and law enforcement operations. Prior to being promoted to Chief, Tony served as Deputy Chief, Sergeant, Corporal, Police Officer, and Security Officer.

In addition to his experience at the Mental Health Institute, he has been an active Reserve Deputy Sheriff in Pueblo County since 1984 and has provided security and law enforcement services to the Colorado State Fair, as member of their security management team. He is an established Instructor at the Pueblo Area Law Enforcement Academy at the Pueblo Community College. He holds a degree in Criminal Justice and is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Instructor Development Course and the Colorado Department of Human Services Professional Instructor Program.

He has trained thousands of police officers, correctional officers, business professionals, educators, and psychiatric caregivers in the Verbal Defense & Influence technique. He has intervened in countless volatile situations involving the general public and psychiatric patients, including forensic, general adult, and adolescents.

He is committed to the Verbal Defense & Influence philosophy and brings to the Institute his unique teaching style.

To visit Tony’s personal website, Click Here

Jill Weisensel

Jill is a consultant/instructor for Verbal Defense and Influence and has campus law enforcement experience, in part, directing and managing shift patrol operations within an urban campus environment. She is the lead Defensive and Arrest Tactics Instructor and the lead Tactical Communication instructor, teaches applications of Tactical Strength and Conditioning at Marquette University and has close to a decade of experience in the field. She is also a member of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association.

In understanding the need for non-escalatory tactics and a more effective and professional way to relate with and manage people, she became an advocate of the universally applicable Verbal Defense and Influence program.

Jill is currently researching and developing bystander intervention programming for bullying and sexual violence prevention, with a particular focus on threat assessment and bystander mobilization. Her academic background (she earned her Master’s degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sports Psychology from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, and her Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Carthage College), athletic training and professional experience make her uniquely qualified to address topics in teaching and speaking such as: the need for personal credibility and professional development, training in motivation and adherence, nutrition and holistic wellness, team building and the development of leadership and life skills.

To visit Jill’s personal website, Click Here

Dave Young

A former corrections and police officer in the state of Florida and a decorated veteran of the United States Marine Corps – and that is his professional side.

In his personal life Dave has lived in some of the most violent places in the United States, growing up in Hialeah, FL during the Mariel, Cuba Boat lift, working as a shoplifting agent in Compton-Inglewood and Watts, CA his real world battles in and on the streets has given him an edge he willingly shares with others.

Traveling around the world to teach and present his material to places Singapore throughout the South of Asia, Japan, throughout Hanover, Berlin, Frankfort in Germany, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, to the various regions of Africa like Lagos, Nigeria, Liberia. Dave has literally trained tens of thousands of professional around the globe.

Dave has been seen on national television hosting shows for National Geographic, featured in CNN and Fox and Friends as an expert in police survival, has been in several national publications like People Magazine, Esquire, the Wall Street Journal, Black Belt Magazine, Police Magazine and authored hundreds.

Dave delivers information that is vital to public safety and corporate professionals in:

• Personal safety and awareness – covering your home, family and work place

• Combating Teen Bullying – at home, in school and other social gatherings

• Surviving the Bully in the work place

• How to conduct risk assessments for educational institutions, homes and the workplace

• Staying safe at Social Events and other public gatherings

• How to win – real world encounters both, verbally, physically and in the courtroom

Click Here to visit Dave’s personal website.