William Dwyer
By: Gena Johnson | Warren Weekly | Published September 11, 2024
WARREN/BRIGHTON — Former Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer has partnered with Fortis Group LLC to bring his more than 60 years of law enforcement and security experience to the security management firm.
“This is a great opportunity for me now and for Fortis. And with my experience, I think I bring a lot to the table,” Dwyer said.
The partnership was formed when Dwyer and Associates, where the former commissioner is now the president, joined with Fortis Group, where Brian Bastianelli serves as CEO. Bastianelli is a retired command officer with the Farmington Hills Police Department where he served 26 years, most of which when Dwyer was the chief.
“We stayed in contact professionally since he left the department,” Bastianelli said. “When he left (the) Warren Police Department, he contacted me and was interested in getting into the private sector. And of course, I was just delighted. I get to work with my former chief.
“I have so much love and admiration for him,” Bastianelli said. “I feel truly blessed to be alongside him again.”
Dwyer started his law enforcement career with the Detroit Police Department where he rose in the ranks and led narcotics investigations shutting down drug cartels in Mexico that were bringing drugs into Detroit. He retired from the Detroit police after 23 years. Then, he became chief of the Farmington Hills Police Department, served 23 years, retired and became the commissioner of the Warren Police Department, where he served a total of nine years in two stints before being terminated from his appointment in April by Mayor Lori Stone, who was elected November 2023.
I’m sad over leaving Warren,” Dwyer said. “I miss Warren. I thought I did an excellent job there. I had the backs of the men and women in Warren.”
With Dwyer’s credentials, it was just a matter of time before he was back doing what he loves.
“I want to be able to stay in the public, to use my experience to keep people safe,” Dwyer said. “I have always felt that way. I feel it’s my life.”
In his new role, he will be working to ensure people’s safety in partnership with someone he was once in command of.
“I hired him (in 1996),” Dwyer said. “It’s been 30 years. Brian Bastianelli is a true professional. He started Fortis Group several years ago. I’m looking forward to working with him because I know who he is. I know his background. I know how he is dedicated. I know his professionalism. It’s really a win-win. I think it’s a win for me and a win for him and Fortis.”
Bastianelli started Fortis in 2010. Fortis, which means strong in Latin, started off with a focus on law enforcement training and consulting but quickly grew into a private investigative and high-level armed security services firm with covert and overt operations for schools, the public and the private sectors.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fortis added security guard and private investigator licenses. It also intensified its security training program, and these services have resonated with his clients, according to Bastianelli.
“We saw the deficiencies in the delivery in service,” Bastianelli said. “We felt we could put together a better security program. And it starts with really qualified people.
“There is a need for security, the way society is and crime rates,” Bastianelli said. “As well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which caused a lot of safety and security concerns in the Detroit area. That’s why those verticals have taken off.”
“After the Oxford shooting, we created a very educational-centric security program that’s really resonating by putting retired police officers that are armed to protect the schools. Just as it would work out, a year later after we created the program, we went to work for Oxford (Public Schools) so it kind of came full circle.”
According to Bastianelli, Fortis has around 170 employees, of which 95% are retired police officers from the federal, state and local levels.