About Us

Lou Tessmann, CFI retired from the Waukegan (Illinois) Police Department after 23 years of service in a wide variety of assignments, including patrol, investigations, training, and ultimately Deputy Chief of Police.

Lou is a 26-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, retiring as a CWO-4. In addition to his service in Vietnam he was activated for Desert Storm and Desert Shield and has received numerous military awards including the Naval Commendation Medal. Lou began his career as a police officer with the City of Waukegan assigned to the patrol division. He was later assigned to the detective bureau for nine years and as a juvenile officer for one year. Lou also served as the Commander of the elite Lake County Major Crime Task Force. The task force works on major criminal investigations relating to homicides, kidnappings, and police-involved shootings. During his career, he has conducted thousands of interviews and interrogations. Most noteworthy, Lou has obtained over 80 homicide confessions during his career with only three instances where he was unable to obtain a confession from the homicide suspect.

Lou has delivered seminars to police and private security organizations throughout the country, as well as internationally in locations such as Tokyo, Japan. He has been a guest speaker on programs such as the Discovery Channel, Real Detective and America’s Most Wanted. Lou’s work was featured in a Dateline NBC story about convicted child molester Arthur Ream and the unsolved 22-year old murder case of a 13-year old girl in Eastpointe, Michigan. Lou assisted local law enforcement with an interrogation of this suspect. His efforts resulted in a first-degree murder conviction, a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole, and the subsequent recovery of the victim’s body. To-date, Lou continues to assist agencies throughout the country with homicides investigations.

Lou graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a B.A. degree in English and Physical Education and is a member of numerous professional and training organizations, including the International Homicide Investigators Association. 

Jeffrey J. Pavletic is a subject matter expert and an award-winning trial attorney who has built a reputation of integrity and exceptional skill in the courtroom.  As a prosecutor over the past three decades, he has tried countless cases to victory (including approximately 175 jury trials with a concentration in homicide and violent crime).  In addition to trying some of the most high profile and complex cases that have occurred in the history of Northern Illinois, Jeff was Chief of the Felony Review Division, and was the First Assistant State’s Attorney for the Lake County (Illinois) State’s Attorney’s Office.

Jeff served as Special Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in the impeachment of President Clinton.  His duties included all aspects of independent counsel review, the impeachment inquiry, presentation of articles of impeachment to the U.S. House of Representatives, all witness interviews and depositions of trial witnesses, and the actual impeachment trial before the United States Senate.

Jeff not only has developed a reputation for excellence in the courtroom, but he is also a published author and a well-respected instructor of law. He currently holds undergraduate and graduate faculty positions and has received accolades as a nationally renowned lecturer training thousands of police, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges.

He has received numerous federal, state and local awards.  These include the Illinois State Crime Commission’s State’s Attorney of the Year, Felony Trial Attorney of the Year, The Fred L. Foreman Criminal Justice Award, The Ruth Rosengarden Victim Service provider Award, and special U.S. House of Representatives Award presented by Congressman Henry Hyde.  Jeff has been featured on 20/20, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Court TV, and The Discovery Channel