Erika Shields is back in Atlanta, joining the leadership team of InVeris Training Solutions Inc., a Suwanee-based company, effective June 16.
Shields, who served as Atlanta’s police chief from 2016 to 2020, is servings as InVeris’ chief commercial officer.
InVeris is a leading provider of technology-driven training solutions for defense forces, law enforcement agencies and commercial shooting range owners around the globe.
In her new role, Shields will lead the organizational growth of InVeris.
The company focuses on using simulation technology to help law enforcement officers around the country make better decisions. Shields will work with leaders of military and law enforcement agencies as they leverage the company’s virtual reality and augmented reality products to improve split-second decision-making in an effort to protect communities.
Shields comes to the role with decades of management experience in law enforcement. She rose through the ranks at the Atlanta Police Department, where she worked for more than 25 years in several leadership roles.
Most recently, Shields served as chief of police for Louisville Metro Government in Kentucky from January 2021 through January 2023.
Shields was not available for comment Friday evening.
Clyde Tuggle, a former Coca-Cola executive, is serving as CEO of InVeris, which is owned by a private equity firm – Pine Island Capital Partners, whose investment partners read like a who’s who of political and business leaders.
“Erika shares our mission, which is focused on solving our customers’ essential training needs in ways that ultimately foster a safer environment,” Tuggle said in the release. “Throughout her law enforcement career, she has embraced and leveraged technology solutions to train officers, track crime trends and, ultimately, keep our cities safer.”
Shields joins InVeris Training Solutions at a vital time in its 95-year history as the company expands its virtual training solutions to better meet the needs of a rapidly changing industry.
In late 2022, InVeris introduced SVR 3.3, which enhances trainees’ performance and judgment skills by providing instructors with biometric insight into a trainee’s stress levels during these training scenarios, which can be used to further understand trainees’ mental and emotional abilities to cope and interact during various real-world events.
“The technology InVeris has is superb, and it brings to the table what police chiefs across the country are looking for,” Shields said in the press release. “This product allows law enforcement and military personnel to train on a regular basis in real-life scenarios with feedback focused on de-escalation and improving outcomes.”
Former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) serves as chair of the InVeris board.
“Erika has a depth of experience that makes her perfectly suited to understand the needs and challenges of leaders in this industry,” Chambliss said in the release. “Her voice will resonate with those who are charged with directing the nation’s preeminent law enforcement agencies, as well as our dedicated members of the military, who work tirelessly to build safer communities.”
Shields has seen the value of this technology-driven approach, which leverages virtual reality, augmented reality and projection systems for law enforcement training.
“The ability to re-create the stressors that go into every scenario where officers have to shift gears so quickly, that is so crucial to every officer on a beat,” she added in the release. “You really have to get an officer conditioned to understand they have to take so many factors into account – most importantly, their stress level – to make the correct decision. Developing this level of understanding leads to fewer incidents and a safer community and country.”
InVeris employs nearly 400 people at facilities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Qatar, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
