Third Degree Communications, Inc.

What Third Degree Communications, Inc. does

Third Degree Communications, Inc., operating as Third Degree Training and legally structured as American Police Leadership Group, LLC, is a private law enforcement training company founded in 2004 and headquartered in Morgan Hill, California. The firm delivers instructor-led, in-person investigative and interview training courses to sworn officers, detectives, supervisors, federal law enforcement personnel, and an expanding set of civilian investigator segments. Its core intellectual property is the Blueprint Investigative System (BIS), a seven-step investigative framework, and Blueprint Investigative Interviewing (BII), a science-based interview methodology, supported by a tactical planning tool called TACTic360. Eleven core courses span investigative interviewing, internal affairs, critical incident response, death investigations, search and seizure law, fraud and financial crimes, science-based interviewing, media relations, the three-day BIS course, the five-day Blueprint Investigative Immersion, and cold case investigations. Classes are taught by decorated, active or recently retired law enforcement professionals rather than academics, differentiating the offering on practitioner credibility.

Name

Third Degree Communications, Inc.

Legal name

American Police Leadership Group, LLC

Website

https://tdcorg.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Third Degree Training is a private, instructor-led investigative training firm serving law enforcement and civilian investigators through proprietary Blueprint methodology courses delivered in-person across 26 U.S. states and federal agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Morgan Hill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Public Course Registrations: Individual law enforcement professionals register and pay for courses from the public calendar. Registration fees are listed on each course page with payment due by first day of class. $50 late fee applied for overdue invoices.
2. Agency/Department Training: Law enforcement agencies host training at their facilities, receiving complimentary or discounted seats in exchange. Agencies can also request tailored/custom courses for their specific needs.
3. Volume Discount Registrations: Large-volume registration discounts offered on case-by-case basis for agencies registering multiple officers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Third Degree Communications, Inc. (DBA Third Degree Training) provides instructor-led, in-person law enforcement training courses built around its proprietary Blueprint Investigative System and Blueprint Investigative Interviewing methodologies. The company delivers investigative interviewing, internal affairs, critical incident response, death investigation, search and seizure, fraud and financial crimes, cold case, and media relations courses to police departments, federal agencies, and selected civilian investigative sectors.

Product overview

Third Degree Communications, Inc. is an investigative training company offering a portfolio of instructor-led law enforcement training courses. The core product lineup consists of eleven distinct classroom-based training courses covering investigative interviewing, internal affairs, critical incident response, death investigations, search and seizure law, fraud and financial crimes, science-based interviewing, media relations, and cold case investigations. The flagship offerings include the Blueprint Investigative System (a seven-step investigative methodology) and the Blueprint Investigative Immersion (a 5-day intensive combining investigative interviewing with the Blueprint framework). Additionally, the company offers Tailored Training Programs that adapt the Blueprint Investigative System to specific industries including corporate security, healthcare compliance, insurance fraud, government civilian investigators, and financial crime investigators. All courses are delivered in-person by experienced law enforcement professionals with documented training hours and POST certification where applicable.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Investigative Interviewing
• Internal Affairs Thorough, professional training for every role that touches internal affairs, covering one of law enforcement's most scrutinized responsibilities.
• Critical Incident Response Training for first responders and others who want to understand the tactical environments that drive safe critical incident outcomes.
• Death Investigations Prepares officers, investigators, and allied professionals to respond to, document, and investigate all categories of death cases.
• Search, Seizure & Warrants Builds sworn and non-sworn personnel into confident search warrant authors, covering foundational case law through the evolving legal landscape of digital investigations.
• Fraud and Financial Crimes Actionable fraud investigation training for sworn and non-sworn personnel, covering identity theft, money laundering, counterfeit documents, and current financial crime trends.
• Intro to Science-Based Interviewing Modern, science-backed interviewing techniques delivered for investigators whether new to interviewing or with years in the field.
• Media Relations Develops tools and frameworks to respond effectively to television, radio, and print media, manage high-profile incidents, and communicate credibly on behalf of their agency.
• Blueprint Investigative Immersion (5 Days) 5-day intensive course combining the Blueprint Investigative System (3 days) and Blueprint Investigative Interviewing (2 days), delivering a complete investigative framework from first scene walk-through to final interview close.
• Blueprint Investigative System (3-Day) A simple, seven-step investigative process scalable from patrol officers handling property crimes to investigators working complex fraud, sexual assault, and homicide cases.
• Cold Case Investigations 16-hour intensive course equipping detectives and investigators with a proven, systematic process for re-opening, re-examining, and resolving cases where leads have run dry.
• Tailored Training Programs Custom investigative and interview courses adapted to fit specific industry needs, including corporate security, healthcare compliance, insurance fraud, government civilian investigators, and financial crime sectors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trained nearly 20,000 officers over 22 years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• FBI National Academy: The FBI National Academy is a premier federal institution delivering advanced investigative leadership training to invited sworn officers; it functions as a broader incumbent that defines executive-level training benchmarks and competes for senior investigator training dollars.
• Lexipol: Lexipol is a broad public-safety content and policy company serving thousands of agencies with policy, training, and wellness solutions; while not investigative-specialized like Third Degree, it competes for agency training budgets at the same procurement point as Third Degree's agency-hosted courses.
• Northwestern University Center for Public Safety: Northwestern University's Center for Public Safety offers long-established and academically credentialed police training programs (School of Police Staff and Command, investigative courses) directly competing with Third Degree for supervisory and detective-level training budgets at larger agencies.

Direct peers

• Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates: Wicklander-Zulawski is a leading interview and interrogation training provider whose Non-Confrontational Interview Technique and seminar-based delivery directly compete with Third Degree's Blueprint Investigative Interviewing (BII) course within the same law enforcement investigation audience.
• Force Science Institute: Force Science Institute delivers advanced training and research on officer decision-making, force encounters, and human factors to law enforcement agencies, mirroring Third Degree's science-based training positioning and academic-research-backed methodology for investigator audiences.
• Calibre Press: Calibre Press is a long-established law enforcement training company offering in-person seminars and street survival/investigative courses to sworn officers across the US, with a similar course-catalog and seminar-format go-to-market that directly overlaps Third Degree's regional public classes channel.
• Police1 (Praetorian Digital): Police1 is a flagship law enforcement digital media and training brand publishing articles, sponsored content, and online training; it overlaps with Third Degree's content-marketing motion and targets the same sworn-officer buyer with online-accessible training resources.
• John E. Reid & Associates: John E. Reid & Associates is one of the most established investigative interviewing and interrogation training organizations in the US, offering multi-day seminars and certification programs that overlap directly with Third Degree's Investigative Interviewing and Internal Affairs courses.

Emerging players

• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE): The ACFE is the leading professional association for fraud examiners with training, certification prep, and conferences; its fraud-investigation content intersects Third Degree's Tailored Training Programs for insurance SIU and financial crime compliance audiences.
• International Association of Interviewers (IAI): IAI is a niche membership and training body for professional interviewers across law enforcement and civilian sectors; it is comparable because it sells training, certifications, and conferences to the same investigative-interviewing buyer that Third Degree's BII methodology targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/p/Third-Degree-Communications-61578195214991
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/third-degree-communications
• Instagraminstagram.com/thirddegreecommunications

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Third Degree Communications, Inc.