Sentinel Public Safety & Leadership Solutions to offer permit to carry classes, public safety training

Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen may be retiring from law enforcement on May 8, but he isn’t leaving public safety behind.

Eliasen is launching Sentinel Public Safety & Leadership Solutions, a new business offering permit-to-carry classes and de-escalation training, drawing on his decades of law enforcement experience and education.

The de-escalation course will provide individuals with the tools to handle people who may be agitated or hostile.

“The de-escalation course can be tailored to other things besides public safety,” Eliasen said. “Like health care, or any municipality, any private business, anybody with public-facing employees.”

Pat Eliasen launches new business in Cook County | Photo by Kirsten Wisniewski

The launch of permit-to-carry classes will fill a gap in Cook County left by instructors who have retired or discontinued classes after a career change.

Although he has several decades of experience in law enforcement and as a firearms instructor for Hibbing Technical College, and has conducted firearm training for the Silver Bay Police Department and the Two Harbors Police Department, Eliasen had to complete additional certification steps through the state to become a permit-to-carry instructor.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension oversee and approve certified instructors across the state. To qualify, prospective instructors must submit lesson plans and a course syllabus for the instructor and the student courses. Instructors can tailor the permit-to-carry class while adhering to the required criteria set by DPS.

Eliasen said he built the entire course himself, tailoring it to include law enforcement aspects.

“I wanted to create something of my own that’s tailored towards not just me, but it gives a little bit of a law enforcement background, but a sense of weapon handling and shooting for the law enforcement side,” Eliasen said.

Eliasen will host two permit-to-carry classes in May: the first on May 9 and the second on May 30. Both classes will take place between 8 a.m. and noon.

The classroom portion of the training will occur at the Cook County Community Center, followed by live-fire training at a gravel pit on Ballclub Road. Class participants will be required to shoot 25 rounds.

To take a permit-to-carry class, individuals must be 18 years of age and undergo a background check. A permit-to-carry license is valid for five years.

Eliasen said he plans to offer additional classes throughout the summer, depending on interest. To learn about the steps to sign up for a class, contact Pat Eliasen at peliasen103@gmail.com.

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Pat Eliasen about the launch of his new business, Sentinel Public Safety & Leadership Solutions. Audio is below.

Kalli Hawkins April 9, 2026