Paul Strauss, MD brings a combination of credentials that is genuinely rare in law enforcement: the clinical expertise of a board-certified anesthesiologist, the tactical training of an LAPD Metropolitan Division officer, and the founder’s instinct of a serial entrepreneur. His career defies easy categorization, and that is precisely what makes him one of the most distinctive figures in California reserve law enforcement.

Dr. Strauss graduated from New York Medical College in 1983 and completed his anesthesia residency and cardiovascular fellowship at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. He went on to practice anesthesia for more than three decades, holding positions at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Bellevue Medical Center, and most recently Antelope Valley Medical Center, where he continues to practice today. His medical career has been distinguished not only by its longevity but by its breadth, including serving as Director of Anesthesia at Beverly Hills Surgical Group and as a founding instructor of the NAEMT TECC program at Cedars-Sinai’s Simulation Center.

His path into law enforcement began in 2017, when he graduated from the LAPD Reserve Academy as part of Class 7-17R. What followed was not a casual commitment. Dr. Strauss moved through patrol assignments at Hollywood and Southwest Divisions before being selected for Metropolitan Division’s C-Platoon, one of the department’s most elite units. Along the way, he earned a set of tactical credentials that would be remarkable for any officer, let alone one simultaneously maintaining an active medical practice. He is a certified instructor in Use of Force, Active Shooter response, Low Light tactics, Vehicle CQB, and Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC/TCCC), among many others. He holds instructor certifications from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the National Tactical Officers Association, the National Rifle Association, and the Force Science Institute, and was named both South Bureau Reserve Officer of the Year and LAPD Reserve Officer of the Year.

The intersection of his two careers is where Dr. Strauss has made his most significant contributions. In 2024, he founded TacMedUSA, serving as its lead Tactical Medicine instructor, and has delivered tactical medical training to elite LAPD units including SIS and the Bomb Squad, the LAPD/FBI Gang and Narcotics Division Task Force, and Riverside SWAT. He is a member of the POST/EMSA Tactical Medical Advisory Subcommittee and has presented at major law enforcement and medical conferences on topics ranging from active shooter response to pre-hospital trauma care.

Dr. Strauss is also the owner and lead instructor of Beverly Hills Shooting Range and Training Academy, where he develops and delivers personal protection and firearms courses for both civilians and law enforcement professionals. His range of instructorships, from the DOJ-certified Firearms Instructor credential to Krav Maga and Filipino Martial Arts, reflects a practitioner who is perpetually in motion, perpetually adding to what he can bring to the officers and civilians he trains.

His entrepreneurial background adds yet another dimension. Prior to his law enforcement career, Dr. Strauss founded eComputerized Physician Records, a pioneering healthcare technology company focused on anesthesia charge capture, and the Agency for Cycling Ethics, an independent anti-doping program whose testing model was later adopted by the governing body of professional cycling. He also holds a Computer Science degree from UCLA and a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer credential, a technical foundation that continues to inform his approach to training design and program development.

Dr. Strauss represents what is possible when a deep commitment to service meets an equally deep commitment to excellence. His presence in the CRPOA community reflects the association’s belief that reserve officers, at their best, bring something irreplaceable to California law enforcement.