Active Shooter

Lieutenant Brian Tholen started his career in Law Enforcement 24 years ago with the Edina Police Department.  He was assigned to the patrol division for 10 years where he became a field training officer, a defensive tactics instructor and was a member of the Southwest Metro SWAT Team Consortium.  He was promoted to Sergeant and worked an additional 4 years on Patrol and was given the position of Team Leader of the Edina SWAT Team. In 2008, he was assigned to the Investigative Division as a Detective Sergeant.  In 2014, he was promoted to Lieutenant where he now supervises 34 officers and 5 Sergeants who are assigned to the Edina Police Department Patrol Division.  He is also the Field Training Coordinator and Team Commander of SWAT and the Crisis Negotiation Team.    

He has been instructing officers, paramedics and firefighters throughout the metro in active shooter response protocol for the past 12 years.  During these trainings, he realized the critical need to teach businesses, employees, employers and the general public on how to help prevent and respond to an active shooter.  He emphasizes the importance of Awareness, Prevention and ultimately, how to Survive.   

He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, holds a Criminal Justice Degree from the University of St. Thomas and is currently pursuing his master’s degree in Public Administration from St. Thomas.  He is married to his wife Lauren (who is also in Law Enforcement) and has two teenage daughters.