SSEI’s approach is shaped by work on the frontline and the responsibility of helping others perform it well. We connect field experience with the standards, preparation, and leadership that make a program dependable.
Professional qualifications support the work. The more useful question is how that knowledge helps the people who have to put it into practice.
SSEI supports churches through guidance, advice, assessments, and training, including informal and no-cost assistance. That work informs our emphasis on a Safety Ministry that serves the congregation and fits the people and setting.
SSEI’s training approach gives school staff room to ask questions, understand their responsibilities and connect preparation to their own setting. The aim is a usable response plan and greater clarity about the work each person needs to do.
The founder background below explains the healthcare security, investigative and protective-team experience that informs this approach.
Qualifications are attributed to the individual who holds them; they support SSEI’s work without replacing a clear scope and practical results. Our training approach and free tools →
A nurse should be able to concentrate on a patient. A church volunteer should know how to help a family. A first-time visitor should be able to find the right door and a person willing to help.
Those everyday experiences are part of what security is meant to protect. At SSEI, the work begins with noticing what could cause harm, taking useful action early, and preparing people to respond calmly when help is needed.
Founded in 2002, SSEI is a Maryland-based, family-owned consulting and training business focused on security consulting, investigations, and training for organizations and individuals.
“It protects the worker so the worker can protect the patient.”
THE SSEI PERSPECTIVETroy founded SSEI in 2002. His experience helps shape our approach; our purpose is to help clients prepare their people, strengthen their programs, and stay safer.
SSEI is a family-owned company. Our work centers on the needs of each client and the people who put security into practice.
Troy began his formal security career in 1992 as a uniformed officer on a college campus. His experience includes senior healthcare security leadership, investigative operations management, fraud investigation, and facility assessments. He also taught criminal investigation, private investigation, and criminal justice at the Community College of Baltimore County from 1998 to 2001.
His education in safety started long before his career. Growing up with his father, Roy Blades, who led Maryland’s Occupational Safety and Health program, Troy learned to look at causes, consequences, and the value of preventing problems before they happen.
Troy holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems. His academic focus on physical security and investigations complements his practical experience in systems, prevention, and risk reduction.
His church safety perspective also comes from serving as a volunteer team member in different settings, including traditional churches and shared facilities. He understands the practical limits of volunteer time, available staff, and buildings a congregation may not own.
Troy grew up with a father whose career centered on workplace safety and a mother whose career extended from patient care to healthcare leadership. That connection between protecting people and helping them serve others continues to shape his work.
Through SSEI, he brings that perspective to organizations that need advice they can put to work: clear responsibilities, prepared people, and procedures that hold up in daily use.
Arrivals, parking areas, handoffs and the last person leaving. Small concerns deserve attention before they grow.
Every recommendation needs an owner. Every post needs instructions. Every handoff needs confirmation.
Calm communication and respectful boundaries matter. How people experience security matters, too.
A report should lead to a decision, a responsible person and an improvement.
Attention to detail starts with what is right in front of you.
Picking up a piece of trash instead of walking past it is a small example of ownership. So is noticing a blocked walkway, offering directions, or following up on a concern someone else has raised.
Leadership sets that standard by doing the small things, too. The habit is to notice what needs attention, take an appropriate action, and follow through. Those everyday actions help create a place that feels cared for and a team people can rely on.
Roy Blades was Troy’s father. After a career that included leading Maryland’s Occupational Safety and Health program, he joined Troy at SSEI in retirement. In Picking Up the Trash, Troy describes his father’s example of hard work, responsibility, and leadership—values that continue to shape his approach.
Troy’s professional background includes executive protection and protective details for individuals facing threats and stalking. He led a team responsible for detailed advance work and preparation, with an emphasis on planning ahead to help prevent incidents.
Executive protection is more than a visible bodyguard presence. For Troy, the most important work often happened before the protective detail began: understanding the concerns, preparing the team, and working through the plan. The goal was an uneventful day for the person being protected.
Careful investigation and thorough preparation shape SSEI’s work. We help clients understand the concern, prepare their people, and make practical decisions that protect those in their care.
Old-School Leadership for a New World
Leadership starts with ownership, including the small jobs that are easy to walk past. Troy’s book brings that principle to the decisions leaders make every day: set the standard through your own conduct, take responsibility, and follow through.
Buy the book ↗Troy A. Blades, SSEI’s founder and president, holds the Certified Fraud Examiner designation and a Maryland State Police Qualified Handgun Instructor Certificate valid through November 30, 2027. He teaches situational awareness, de-escalation and active-threat preparedness, is an ALICE trainer for subscribing schools, and completed CRASE Train-the-Trainer through ALERRT at Texas State University in 2019.
Training scope, instructor assignment and course requirements are confirmed for each engagement. See SSEI training options and free resources →
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