Employee Spotlight

Cliff Paul Sr.

I have been with Top Gun since May 2019 (Retired after 22 years as a Police Officer in a town just north of Chicago (Buffalo Grove, Illinois). I served as a Corporal on midnights, but my favorite assignment was as a School Resource Officer serving two districts (10 schools). I hold a Master’s Degree in Education and another one in Criminal Justice. I married Lynda Paul in August of 1985, and we just celebrated 34 years. We have three grown children: Cliff Jr., an award-winning AAU basketball coach, Brandon, an accomplished pro basketball player having played for the Spurs in 2018; currently playing professionally in Greece, and Darius, who also plays professional basketball and recently won the League Championship with the Albany Patroons of the TBL Basketball League.

My absolute favorite part of my job as an instructor for Top Gun is passing on more than two decades of experience as a police officer dealing with people from all walks of life. Just before becoming a police officer, I worked as a Security Officer at a large local hospital. I can’t stress enough the importance of critical thinking, report writing, and defensive tactics. I am a Certified Police Defensive Tactics Instructor. I served in that position for fifteen years while at the Buffalo Grove Police Department.

I am a Black Belt Martial Arts instructor holding a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and a Green Belt in the Philipino Combat Art, Hom Do. I am also a certified personal safety instructor specializing in women’s safety, as well as an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor.

My wife, Lynda, coached all the boys in basketball and taught them everything they needed to know about the sport. I am the oddball in the family, having played semi-pro football including workouts with both the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers.