Strategic advisor  ·  Public safety ecosystem

Anyone can tell you what you want to hear.
I'm interested in the truth.

I work with a small number of companies in the public safety ecosystem — on retainer, over time — helping them see clearly, plan honestly, and execute using the right people and resources.

Jon Whirledge — stipple portrait

Most advisors hand you a report and disappear. I stay until the work is done — which means I'll tell you the truth from the start.

Most organizations don't have a strategy problem. They have a clarity problem. They know something isn't working but can't see it clearly enough to fix it, or they've convinced themselves they already have the answers.

I break that open. I help clients see what is actually in front of them, help them build an honest plan, and connect them to the right resources to execute.

Not a template.
Not a framework.
The actual people and resources the plan requires.

I work with a select number of clients — on retainer. That means I'm in the room for the hard conversations — not just reading the summary.

Retainer & advisory engagements only

01

Clarity & diagnosis

Before you can fix anything, you need to see it honestly. I get inside your operations, your numbers, and your assumptions — and tell you what's actually there. Not what you want to hear.

02

Strategy & planning

Once you see the problem clearly, you need a plan you can actually stand behind. I help you build one — honest about what it will take, realistic about what it won't.

03

Connections & execution

The right plan needs the right resources. Twenty-four years across the public safety ecosystem means I know where they are — and how to get them in front of you. I match the resource to what the plan actually requires.

Twenty-four years in this space taught me one thing: the problem is seldom where everyone is looking.

Public safety is buying systems you can't audit, signing contracts you don't understand, and funding systems that you can't prove how they work. The vendors know this.

The gap between what organizations think is happening and what is actually happening is where I've spent my career. First as a CFO and operator. Now as an advisor. And as the founder of the 911 Trust Ledger Foundation, which exists to build the data infrastructure this ecosystem needs to govern itself honestly.

The advisory work and the foundation work are the same. See clearly. Plan honestly. Build what the problem actually requires.

911trustledger.org →
THE PROBLEM TODAY PSAPPSAP CADCAD PSAPAI PSAPCAD PSAP custom point-to-point integrations
240M+ 911 calls placed in the US each year
6,000+ PSAPs with no shared data standard
n²→n Integrations replaced by one connection
0 Verifiable cross-system audit trails today
All essays →

Operations

Who is minding the foundation?

The insiders built it. The outsiders bypassed it. AI is now running on top of it. Nobody owns what happens next — and the stakes are not abstract.

Read →

Infrastructure

Choice in 911 is disappearing

You can pick any ESInet provider you want. That's not the choice that matters. The real lock-in happens in the software stack — and every decision you make narrows the next one.

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Leadership

If you can't answer the basic questions, you already made the trade

Who, what, when, and where. The basics. If your technology stack can't answer those, you didn't adopt technology — you surrendered to it.

Read →

Working together starts with a conversation.

I work with a select number of clients — on retainer. If you need someone to help you see clearly, plan honestly, and put the right resources to work, let's find out if it's a fit.

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