Ten Eight Innovations
Our Team
Josh Friedman, Founder
Josh developed Ten Eight Innovations in 2022 after serving as a city police officer for over a decade. He brings a breadth of experience as a law enforcement practitioner. He served as a patrol officer at three unique police departments across the country. His law enforcement career began in West Columbia, South Carolina. He then spent four years as a patrol officer in Arvada, Colorado, before relocating to Springfield, Illinois, where he spent another four years as a patrol officer.
Josh returned to academia in 2021 to pursue a doctorate in public administration at the University of Illinois Springfield, where he works as an academic professional, developing and facilitating training for frontline, public-facing professionals from various disciplines.
Josh’s interests are individual and group resilience, mental and emotional survival, officer satisfaction and burnout, recruitment and retention, law enforcement culture, community engagement, strengthening community bonds, and improving the public perception of the police.
Josh’s current work focuses on the intersection between resilience, job performance, and retention among police officers, trauma-informed training for school resource officers, and the pivotal role of school resource officers in bridging the gap between police and the community.
Josh believes that all people should feel safe in their communities and have access to a professional, well-trained frontline workforce.
Betsy Goulet, Consultant
Betsy retired from her role as Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the UIS Child Advocacy Studies Program (CAST), where she taught for twelve years. Dr. Goulet also served as the Director of the Alliance for Experiential Problem-Based Learning. For over forty years, Dr. Goulet has worked in the nonprofit or social service sector, primarily in child protection, serving as the founding director of the Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center and working as the Children’s Policy Advisor to the Illinois Attorney General. Dr. Goulet also worked for the National Children’s Alliance as a Membership Specialist, conducting accreditation site reviews for Children’s Advocacy Centers nationwide.
Dr. Goulet developed a new model for child protection training that emphasized experiential learning and the use of a Residential Simulation Lab and mock courtroom on the UIS campus. She has presented nationally and internationally on the Child Protection Training Academy and has consulted with several states interested in replicating the model.
An additional Alliance simulation training project was federally funded through the Administration for Children and Families in partnership with Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois, supported by Senator Dick Durbin’s office and evaluated by the Children and Family Research Center at the UIUC.
Dr. Goulet is a Senior Research Fellow with the Child Welfare League of America, where she continues to develop best practices for child protection simulation training. The University of Illinois Board of Trustees designated Dr. Goulet an Emerita Assistant Professor.
Michael Hall, Consultant
Michael has been a police officer at his hometown police department in the Denver metro area for over 15 years. He graduated from Metropolitan State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in human services. After graduating college, Michael served as a patrol officer for more than nine years. He has served in various roles within his department since then.
As a patrol officer, Michael took on the role of a leader formally and informally. He mentors new recruits and has been a field training officer for 12 years. Michael is a skills instructor for several topics, including crisis intervention, de-escalation, arrest control, and high-risk simulations. He has participated in multiple culture-based programs to improve morale and service.
Michael spent three years as a community outreach team member, developing and fostering relationships with business owners, community and city leaders, and individuals experiencing homelessness. He created multiple programs to streamline police services for community members. Michael also worked on systems to improve communication throughout his agency.
Michael is an experienced detective, currently assigned to investigate domestic violence and other person-related crimes. In this role, he collaborates with multiple agencies throughout his home jurisdiction. Michael has attained the rank of “Master Police Officer” and “Senior Detective” for his agency. He maintains numerous specialty certifications, including crisis intervention, crime scene investigation, crime prevention through environmental design, problem-oriented policing, and de-escalation techniques.
Michael is interested in individual officer resilience, mental and emotional survival, officer satisfaction, recruitment and retention, building community bonds and trust, and improving police training. Michael believes that high-quality and fair policing creates a better community for everyone.