Police Leadership Training Firm Expands Into Fire, EMS, and City Administration

MURFREESBORO, TN, UNITED STATES, May 11, 2026: Jon Fehlman, a retired police chief whose law enforcement career began in 1984, launched Thatcher Lewis to address a systemic problem: public sector organizations promote people into leadership roles without training them for those positions.

The company serves law enforcement departments nationwide and is expanding into fire departments, EMS services, and public administration starting in 2026. Fehlman's law enforcement career included service as a field training officer, detective, and police chief across three different agencies. He later worked as an instructor with the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association (LEEDA).

Fehlman witnessed firsthand what happens when organizations promote unprepared candidates. The results often lead to low morale, poor retention of officers, and possibly, litigation and financial payouts. "The fault often lies with the people who promoted," Fehlman said. "Organizations need to train their people so they are prepared. A leadership title does not necessarily mean the person demonstrates leadership. This can cost an organization significantly."

Thatcher Lewis's solution: train leaders before titles are assigned. The "Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today" program targets sergeants, field training officers, and support staff for intensive leadership development before promotion. Companion command leadership training focuses on executives already in organizational roles.

The model rests on four core principles: leadership can be taught, leadership can be caught through mentoring, leadership cannot be bought with a title, and leadership should precede promotion. Core curriculum covers critical conversations, decision-making consistency, relationship-based leadership, and accountability. "The most loving thing you can do for someone is have a critical conversation when you see them failing," Fehlman said. "If we see it and do nothing, we own that. We own the consequences."

Thatcher Lewis currently offers police leadership training and fire leadership development. The company is developing sector-specific material for EMS supervisors and for the city administrators and department heads who run local government services.

"We've built a comprehensive executive training course for municipal staff and administrators," Fehlman said. "You get the title, let us provide the training of the needed leadership skills. We start with foundational leadership training: accountability, integrity, relationship-building, knowledge."

The same gap repeats in every sector the company serves. Fire departments hand a company officer a set of bugles without a course on holding the standard. EMS agencies promote the strongest clinician on the crew and hope supervision follows. City halls move a capable analyst into a department head role and leave the leadership part to chance. The company is booking classes now through 2027. Recruitment of experienced fire chiefs and retired executives as instructors begins soon, which would build succession capacity over time.

"I want to build something sustainable," Fehlman said. "The foundation has to be solid. Once we have the right people ready, we bring them on board." The goal is building a network of instructors capable of delivering police leadership training, fire leadership development, and executive programs across sectors while maintaining training quality.

About Thatcher Lewis: Thatcher Lewis develops principled leaders for law enforcement, fire departments, emergency medical services, and city administration. Two courses are published: Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today, for supervisors before and just after promotion, and Executive Leadership Growth, for command staff and agency executives. Both address critical conversations, consistent decisions under pressure, and accountability, and both are built around the agency’s own policies and general orders. Founded in 2015 by Jon Fehlman, a former chief of police whose service began in 1984, the company works with agencies across the United States.