ABOUT US
Our History: Police Legal Sciences, Inc. (PLS) was founded in 1999 by attorney Gerald N. Partridge. PLS began by providing state-specific legal update training to law enforcement officers in Missouri and Iowa.
In 2008, PLS began producing online reality-based dispatcher training. Now, dispatchers at PSAPs in 39 states and Canada take these lessons each month. The sizes of subscribing PSAPs range from three to hundreds and include sheriff’s offices, city police departments, county and consolidated PSAPs, state patrols, park rangers, airport dispatchers, campus police departments, privatized PSAPs, Native American reservations, and federal agencies (military bases, NASA, etc.).
In 2020, PLS developed reality-based, online training specifically designed for jail officials (correctional officers, jail supervisors, sheriffs, and medical and mental health staff).
Our Mission: Our mission is to help public safety professionals make good decisions.
The PLS Difference: PLS's reality-based training is based on actual 9-1-1 calls and the facts of actual court cases, used to approximate the situations law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers face in operational settings. This reality-based approach promotes understanding of how to apply the law in a variety of situations, appreciation of the legal and financial consequences of decisions, mental sharpness, situational awareness, and confidence.
Our Team
Founder: Jerry Partridge, JD
Attorney Jerry Partridge founded Police Legal Sciences, Inc. (PLS) in 1999. Mr. Partridge holds a juris doctorate degree from the University of Iowa College of Law and is licensed to practice law in the State of Iowa. He served nearly two decades as a prosecuting attorney, co-authored three books on police science published by Lexis Law Publishing, lectured at police academies and training conferences (state, regional, and national) in more than 38 states, and served more than six years as an adjunct instructor at the National College of District Attorneys in Columbia, South Carolina. From 2006 – until 2020, he lectured twice a year at Iowa State correctional facilities. He presently provides pro bono services to the Johnson County Iowa Attorney’s Office in its Restorative Justice Project.
President & Chief Executive Officer: Kelly Terrill, JD
Attorney Kelly Terrill joined PLS in 2013, serving first as the Director of Legal Training and currently as the company’s President & Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Terrill has authored or co-authored hundreds of courses on constitutional law, criminal procedure, ethics, investigations, bias prevention, and more policing topics. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Iowa. Prior to joining PLS, Ms. Terrill spent several years in private legal practice and interned for the Supreme Court of Delaware. She graduated third in her class from the University of Iowa College of Law, Class of 2006. Ms. Terrill is a former domestic violence advocate and board member of a domestic violence crisis center.
Director of Jail Pro and Iowa Legal Update: Patrick Logan, JD
Attorney Patrick Logan is the Director of Iowa Legal Update and Jail Pro at Police Legal Sciences, Inc. He previously served as an Assistant Attorney General at the Missouri Attorney General's Office, where he managed the Habeas Corpus Unit. While an Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Logan litigated cases in both state and federal trial-level courts and argued cases in state and federal appellate courts. Before joining the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Logan was an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Audrain County, Missouri. Mr. Logan is admitted to practice law in Iowa and Missouri state courts, as well as the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Missouri Legal Update Writer: Linda Lemke, JD
Attorney Linda Lemke graduated Cum Laude from the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University in 1998. During law school, she was Editor-in-Chief of the Education and Law Journal. She also worked for the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel for the Utah Legislature, where she performed research, wrote memoranda, advised legislators, and helped draft legislation. Upon graduation, she began working for the Criminal Appeals division of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. She wrote hundreds of briefs to support felony criminal convictions and argued nearly 100 cases in the Missouri appellate courts, including 14 in the Supreme Court of Missouri. She also wrote Attorney General Opinions on a wide variety of subjects, second-chaired a death penalty trial, helped extradite criminals, and conducted CLE and appellate training for new attorneys. She has worked for PLS since February 2020.
Director of Dispatch Pro: Kristen Pattie
Kristen Pattie has over 15 years of experience in emergency communications. She has worked in four communications centers in three U.S. states and has experience dispatching for police, fire, and EMS. Her most recent experience was as a Police Dispatch Supervisor for the Chula Vista Police Department in California. She has been a Certified Training Officer (CTO) since 2010 and has extensive experience training dispatchers in both one-on-one and classroom settings.
In 2019, Kristen obtained her Emergency Number Professional (ENP) certificate through the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). She also holds a certificate from NENA’s Communications Manager Certification Program (CMCP) and obtained both the Advanced and the Supervisor Certification through California Police Officers Standards and Training (POST). In 2019, she graduated from California Coast University summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management.
Kristen has been passionate about training throughout her public safety career. In 2021, Kristen joined Police Legal Sciences and is now the Director of Dispatch Pro.
Lesson Contributors
PLS works with many additional attorneys, dispatchers, dispatch supervisors, law enforcement officers, corrections officers, mental health professionals, professors, and others who co-author or contribute to PLS lessons.
