Cantor’s Driving School Instructors

Cantor’s Driving School’s Experienced, Expert Instructors

Cantor’s Driving School instructors are the very best in Florida. All instructors know how teens, adults and seniors learn to drive, so we customize our teaching approaches to our students. All Cantor’s Driving School instructors have clean driving records, child abuse clearances, have passed criminal background checks and been FBI fingerprinted.

All Cantor’s Driving School instructors are former first responders: police officers, firemen/women, paramedics.

Cantor’s Driving School has taught over 100,000 people how to drive – The Driving School That Gets Results®

Employment for Driving Instructors

Cantor’s Driving School is always looking for good driving instructors who have first responder experience. Call 954-740-1103 to inquire about current opportunities, or send an email with your resume to cantorsdrivingfl@gmail.com.

All Instructors Are Florida State-Licensed

Every Cantor’s Driving School instructor is licensed by the State of Florida, a rigorous process that includes driving instructor training and submission of extensive documentation proving credibility of qualifications and character, including:

  • Complete the 32-hour Driving Instructor Training Course (DITC)
  • Submit a commercial driving school instructor application
  • Driving school owner Frank Cantor must provide a notarized statement of employment as a driving instructor at his school
  • A valid Florida driver license and a clear driving record for the previous 3 years (at least), with no license “suspensions, revocations, cancellations, or disqualification”
  • Submit a set of fingerprints for a fingerprint-based criminal background check
  • Submit a recent, clean Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) report
  • License must be renewed every year
  • Source: Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV)

Meet Our Driving Instructors

Instructors in Southeast Florida

Glenn Topping

Glenn is a retired sergeant with 25 years of service at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. During his tenure there, he was a patrol sergeant his last 20 years on the SWAT team as a lead hostage negotiator, field force supervisor, tactics instructor, FTO training new deputies and new sergeants, organized crime detective working narcotic interdiction and smuggling at the airport and bus terminal. He also traveled with the DEA conducting drug operations around the country. Glenn is also a veteran US Army Military Police Sergeant stationed in Germany. While in Germany, Glenn provided close contact security for high ranking military brass and trained new sergeants. Glenn is the recipient of over 100 letters of commendation and appreciation as well as numerous life-saving awards, unit achievement awards and animal rescue awards. In the early 1980s, Glenn introduced DUI checkpoints and trained other agencies on how to use them. He also trained officers in active shooter incidents. Glenn was also featured on the TV show COPS in 1989 in the first season and several episodes. Prior to policing, Glenn was a bodyguard in the musical entertainment field for the professional rock and roll groups when they came into town. Glenn is also acquainted with the actor Johnny Depp as they worked together in the past. Glenn is a published author of 11 books which can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kindle, and has appeared on over three dozen podcasts to promoting his books.

Keith Krakowski

Keith resides in Palm Beach County. He was a police officer in Auburn Police Department, Auburn, MA, for 8 years (4 in uniform and 4 as a detective), a police officer for 3 years in Daytona Beach, FL, and a special agent with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for 20 years. With DEA, he spent approximately 12 years overseas to in such countries as Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Panama, Honduras, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Upon retirement from DEA, he became a security contractor (manager/director) in Iraq for nearly 4 years and another year in Pakistan. His education includes: MA in Criminal Justice, BS in Sociology and AS in Law Enforcement.

Ken Leon (Speaks English and Spanish)

Ken retired from the New York City Police Department (NYPD), where he served 21 years of service as a Police Officer. His duties included patrolling New York City and the surrounding five boroughs, on the streets as well as the NYC subways. A major part of his career was working at the Police Academy as an instructor, where he taught new recruits Law, Behavioral Science, Firearms and Driver’s Training. After retirement from the NYPD, he was employed by one of New York’s top security companies as a general topic instructor where he worked for four years. Ken was also an instructor for the National Safety Council-NY Chapter, teaching defensive driving courses that are taken by offenders seeking to reduce points against their driver’s licenses. He was also certified by the Red Cross as a CPR instructor. Ken is fluent in English and Spanish.

Angela Rawls

Angela is a retired Deputy Sheriff with 23 years of service at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and was a correction officer for the Florida State Corrections Department. For five years she acted as a parking control officer for the Town of Palm Beach Police Department. She also worked as a substitute teacher and is qualified to teach first through eighth grades at public schools in the Palm Beach County School District. Angela resides in Palm Beach County with her daughter whom she taught to drive.

John Kelly

John is a retired lieutenant with 30 years of service at the West Palm Beach Police Department. During his tenure at the police department he was the Executive Officer for the Chief of Police, Commander of the Criminal Investigations Bureau, Watch Commander, Sergeant/Patrol Supervisor, Field Training Supervisor, SWAT Sniper Team Leader, Motor Officer, Field Training Officer, Organized Crime Agent, Multi Agency Narcotic Agent, and Patrol Officer. John is also an honorable discharged veteran of the United States Marine Corps as a sergeant. John is a graduate of Kaplan University with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.

Ray Toscano

Ray is a veteran of the United States Navy. He served all over the world and has conducted various military missions. Ray is also a retired New York City Police Officer. During his tenure at the NYPD Ray received numerous medals and awards and was recognized as Cop of The Month on several occasions. He was in units such as Grand Larceny Auto, Street Narcotics, Burglary, Anti-Crime and Community Policing. Ray conducted successful investigations that resulted in safer New York City streets. Ray was a first responder during 9/11, and is a certified Terrorism Liaison Officer. After retiring from the NYPD, Ray moved to South Florida and worked as a Public Safety Manager in Palm Beach County. He trained and managed over 30 security officers on Active Shooter and Workplace Violence. Ray has extensive training in CPR, defibrillator, first aid, crisis management and defensive driving tactics. Throughout Ray’s career he has been devoted to ensuring the safety of others and is eager to bring his knowledge and skills to future drivers.

Frank Gesualdi

Frank served 22 ½ years with the New York City Police Department, with over 14 years in training experience with the NYPD. As a Sergeant, Frank trained newly hired recruits in the Police Academy on the topics of law, police science and behavioral science, and conducted practical field training, with several workshops that included car stop tactics and domestic violence.

After his promotion to Lieutenant, he spent the last six years of his career with the Disorder Control Unit (DCU) specifically training the Strategic Response Group (SRG), a fast reactionary force tasked with responding to crowd control, active shooters, hazardous material (HAZMAT) conditions and large scale emergency incidents. Frank conducted training in crowd control, counter-terrorism, and HAZMAT. He also supervised the deployment of personnel and equipment with DCU’s field operations in protests and significant crowd events occurring within the five boroughs of New York City. Frank lives with his wife in Pembroke Pines.

Robert W.

Robert is a recently retired, 30+ year veteran officer of a South Florida law enforcement agency. During that time he was assigned to the Street Narcotics Unit, Tactical Impact Unit, School Resource Officer, Tactical Bike Platoon, and Road Patrol. He was named Officer of the Month for January 2010, and received numerous public and departmental commendations. He has training in CPR, defibrillator use, first aid, conflict resolution, crisis management and defensive tactics. He is a Florida native.

Eugene Szolis

Prior to his service with Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), Eugene was a Tactical Photographer with Asset Protection Team, a specialized security company founded by former members of the U.S. Secret Service. In 1996 he began his 22 years with MDPD. During his tenure he became a highly regarded Field Training Officer (FTO) providing on-the-job training to academy graduates, a computer dispatch system trainer, and a Crisis Intervention specialist. He was also certified on the operation of the 1500 gallon and 3000 gallon fire trucks/water canons and as a grenadier. One-on-one training held a special place in his heart, thus he rejected certain specialized units to remain an FTO. In 2018 he retired honorably with many accolades, commendations and awards; he is now a happy family man and Broward County resident.

Jason Zangara

Jason was a 20 year veteran officer of a South Florida law enforcement agency. During that time he was assigned to the Street Narcotics Unit, Tactical Impact Unit, School DARE, Entertainment District, Bike Patrol, Crisis Intervention, Hiring Committee and Road Patrol. He was named Officer of the Month in different months, both by his department and iHeartRadio, and received numerous public and departmental commendations. He has training in CPR, defibrillator use, first aid, street trauma, conflict resolution, crisis management and defensive tactics, advanced aggressive and defensive driving and law Enforcement pursuit tactics. He is originally from Garfield, NJ and is a graduate of University of Central Florida (UCF).

William H.

William was born and raised in south Florida. He relocated to Port Saint Lucie in 1992 where he started a family and raised two children. William is a retired, decorated Firefighter EMT who had twenty-two and a half years of dedicated service with Martin County Fire Rescue. He served as a step-up lieutenant for over four years. William successfully trained new recruits with their driving responsibilities on all types of fire apparatus. On his days off as a Firefighter, he worked as a truck driver Test Examiner for a local transportation company. William obtained his Commercial Driving License in 1985 and has driven tractor trailers all over the country.

John Gleason

John retired from the State of Massachusetts Department of Corrections after 25 years of service. He worked in the transportation unit and future rendition unit. Prior to his state service he worked for the City of Boston as a transportation officer for the city school bus company. He was in charge of safety and supervision of city bus operations. He has taken many defensive driving and driving safety classes with the state and city jobs he held. John has lived in Broward county the last 12 years.

Gregory Gatto

Gregory retired from the New York City Department of Correction in 2011 after 21 years of dedicated service. He was responsible for the care, custody and control of inmates in the Rikers Island jail system. After serving 9 years in the jails, Gregory transferred into his department’s Emergency Service / SWAT unit where he was a part of an elite team of officers and supervisors that were called upon for emergency situations. After retirement, Gregory went on to become a Security Contractor / Officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from 2013 to 2019, where again, he was assigned to the care, custody, control and transportation of ICE detainees to and from their facilities to court appearances. Gregory moved to Palm Beach County in 2020 with his wife and two dogs.

Patrick Limage

Patrick joined the New York City Fire Department EMS in 1995. He retired as an FDNY officer with over 25 years of experience. He rose to the rank of captain in charge of the Emergency Medical Dispatch Training Unit where he was the commanding officer of all training staff and students. While serving as lieutenant, and later captain, he was actively involved in the development of Next Generation 911, Office of Medical Affairs EMD Quality Assurance, Mayor’s Office of 911 Quality Assurance, and Mayor’s Office of Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Task Force. Upon his retirement in 2021 he relocated to Palm Beach County with his wife and two daughters.

Branden Pedrosa

Branden is a retired New York City Police Officer with 23 years experience in Law Enforcement and over 30 years experience in the security field. Branden was very active in his career with over 800 arrests. He served in many different roles as a police officer – from street patrol to plain clothes units and drug initiatives – removing dangerous felons from NYC streets. As a result of his dedicated work, Branden was awarded the Medal of Valor for his heroic apprehension of an armed assailant in 2006. While with the New York City Police Department, Branden earned his New York State Commercial Driver’s License. He drove NYPD’s school buses, police wagons and Mobile Command Centers. The last few years of his career, Branden taught and mentored volunteers in the New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police Unit. Upon his retirement, Branden took on several security jobs in New York City. He worked in two schools in New York City and one in West Palm Beach, ensuring the safety and care of the students, staff, and guest. He also worked as Executive Security for two prominent families , ensuring the safety of their children and staff. Branden also has a Florida State Commercial Drivers License. He currently lives in West Palm Beach.

Timothy McInerney

Tim spent the first part of his law enforcement career in New York City, right in midtown Manhattan, and attended John Jay College. After being a first responder on 9/11 at the World Trade Center, he decided he needed a new path for his career. Tim moved to sunny South Florida where he became a South Florida Law Enforcement Officer until his retirement in 2019. During his career Tim wore many hats for various departments. Some highlights were being a Field Training Officer and serving on the pension board. Tim had many accolades and commendations for his expertise in the field, including a life saving award for performing the Heimlich maneuver on a young person. Tim has training in CPR and defibrillator use, first aid, crisis management, defensive tactics, and conflict resolution. Now that he is retired, Tim likes spending time with his family, beach, and white water rafting.

Peter F.

Peter resides in Palm Beach County. He served in Brooklyn’s 60th, 61st and 84th precincts in the early days of his career, then went on to serve 18 years in a Highway Patrol Unit where he received training on driving with suspended or revoked licenses, driving while intoxicated and Accident Investigations (AI). Peter has performed many accident investigations involving serious injuries. He retired from the New York City Police Department in 2002 just after the attack on the World Trade Center. After relocating to Florida in 2002, Peter continued his law enforcement career as a Deputy Sheriff with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, where he served 18 years. He has more than 38 years in law enforcement.

Russell D.

Russell is a former US Marine and a retired New York City Police Officer. He then served as the Executive Officer to the Sheriff of Broward County until January of 2019. While with the NYPD, Russell served in Brooklyn South Task Force (Disorder Control Unit). During his law enforcement career, he received a Bachelor’s Degree in History, a Graduate Degree in Middle Eastern Studies, and a Graduate Certificate in Counter-Terrorism Studies from studying abroad at the Interdisciplinary Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies in Herzliya, Israel. Beginning in 2019, Russell has been conducting Foreign Policy and Counter-Terrorism research for a Washington-based company, and lectures widely on these subjects. His hobbies consist of traveling with family, reading, writing extensively, and a very regimented physical fitness routine.  

Neil Cascone

Neil is a veteran of the US Air Force and US Army, visiting 34 states and 6 countries during his service. He retired as a Police Sergeant after 17 years of service with the Port Orange Police Department. During his time there he supervised the Traffic Division and the Tri-City DUI Task Force, and was a Traffic Homicide Investigator. He was also the President/Director of the Police Athletic League, President/Director of the Police Explorers, and the Vice-President of the Police Benevolent Association. He received numerous letters of commendation and was Policeman of the Year four times. After retiring from the Port Orange Police Department, he worked for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for 20 years. He was assigned to the Court Services Division in felony courtrooms and has appeared on Court TV four times. Neil has degrees in Criminal Justice and Aviation Transportation.

Eric Blake

Eric is originally from Buffalo, New York and has been living in South Florida for about 30 years. Eric is a retired deputy sheriff with 27 years of service with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. During his time there, Eric worked in several capacities in different districts, including Pompano Beach, Tamarac and Parkland. Besides general patrol duties, Eric worked most recently as a field training deputy, where he was tasked with the training of new deputy sheriffs. Eric’s final assignment prior to his retirement was that of a school resource deputy, where he worked closely with the youth and families of his community.

Dale Johnson

Dale was born and raised in Dade County, Florida. He retired from the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) after serving as a police officer for over 23 years, where he worked as a patrol officer, a community policing officer, and on undercover drugs and prostitution details, burglary and robbery intervention, and traffic enforcement. He also conducted Community Crime Watch meetings and facilitated annual 3-on-3 basketball tournaments. In the last 12 years of his work at MDPD, he served as a training advisor, instructing numerous police trainees in basic law enforcement curriculum and high liability activities such as defensive tactics, firearms, CPR/first aid/first responder techniques. He received Excellence in Policing awards, Unit Commendation awards, and was nominated for Community Crime Watch Officer of the year. He was also a correctional officer for 4 years prior to being a police officer.

Gary Michalosky

Gary is from Cleveland Ohio where he worked as a Deputy Sheriff for the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office from 1992 until he moved to Florida in 1997. He retired in June 2023 from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO) as a Deputy Sheriff with an additional 24 years of law enforcement service. During his last 5 years with the agency, he was working as a School Resource Officer for a middle school in the city of Parkland which entailed working extensively with children, families and school faculty. In addition to his police work, Gary retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves as a Port Security Specialist 1st Class in 2010 and has prior service with the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserves as a Medical NCO (Sergeant). Gary is also a volunteer registered nurse with the Florida Medical Reserve corps, with previous employment as an emergency room nurse at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, FL and the Cleveland Clinic Hospital in Weston, FL. Before his tenure with BSO he worked in a collateral duty as a firefighter with the City of Parkland prior to its merger with BSO in 2004.

Rodney Adams

Rodney started his law enforcement career in 1984 with the Florida Highway Patrol in Palatka, Putnam County, Florida as a State Trooper. After 4 years with the department he transferred to West Palm Beach for the remainder of his time with the State Patrol. He was a high arrest officer for driving under the influence (DUI) offenses. He later became a member of the DUI squad for Palm Beach, Broward and Dade counties. He left the State Patrol and became lead officer for the first girls juvenile prison in the State of Florida, located in West Palm Beach. He worked for several years in juvenile facilities and open air properties in Palm Beach and Okeechobee counties. He moved back to Leon/Gadsden counties, working for the City of Midway as an officer for 3 years while also working for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Federal Police officer in Tallahassee.

Certified Driver’s Test Examiners in Southeast Florida

Robert Ferricane – Certified Driver’s Test Examiner

Rob has worked for the DMV and the Palm Beach Tax Collector as a licensed driver license examiner for the past 14 years. Rob’s experience, especially working with student age clients, is a key asset as an examiner. Rob is married with 3 grown children and is an honorably discharged military veteran serving our country in the United States Navy.

Matt Reilly – Certified Driver’s Test Examiner

James Nelson – Certified Driver’s Test Examiner

James is Palm Beach County resident. Prior to moving to Palm Beach, James was a Lieutenant with the Keansburg, NJ Police Department for 25 years, retiring in 2016. During his police career, he served as a patrol officer as well as detective including 3 years working as an undercover narcotics detective. After being promoted to Sergeant, he went back into uniformed patrol as a shift commander for 5 years. He remained in that position until he was promoted to Lieutenant for the remaining 5 years of his career as a patrol commander. He also served as a field training officer as well as the department’s radar instructor until retirement.

Julie Bourgeois – Certified Driver’s Test Examiner

Julie is a retired federal employee having served for 28+ years. She worked in several areas of service, and was required to have a security clearance. She has also worked in the tour industry as a Supervisor of Operations for a tour bus company in the Palm Beaches. This required her to test potential tour bus drivers for there driving skills before being hired.

Don Gagnon – Certified Driver’s Test Examiner

 
 

Instructors in Tallahassee

Jeffrey Jacobs

Jeffrey retired from the City of Miami Police Department where he served for 35 years. His law enforcement career covered a wide variety of areas. For twenty years his assignments included under-cover narcotics and vice operations as he and his team battled the drug violence in South Florida. For the next 15 years, he held the position as Chief of Public Safety for Miami-Dade College. During this second chapter of his career, Jeffrey’s mission also included Community Relations and Public Safety instructor at the Police Academy. Jeffrey was trained as an Instructor by Home Land Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) where he taught State first responders about disaster mitigation and criminal justice at the Police Academy. Upon retiring from the City of Miami, Jeffrey worked as a Security/Public Safety officer. He also founded his own public safety company where he is an instructor teaching public safety, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)/First Aid, automated external defibrillators (AEDs) operation, firearms safety, and fitness and nutrition.

Donterrious (Don) Holland

Donterrious has had an extensive career spanning 18 years dedicated to public service. For 10 years, he served as a firefighter with the Gretna Public Safety Department in Gretna, Florida, a small town located 28 miles west of Tallahassee, with five of those years as the Assistant Fire Chief. Passionate about helping others, he spent three years working in the Juvenile Justice system at the Twins Oaks Juvenile Development, Inc. Level 6 program assisting in the rehabilitation of troubled and disenfranchised youth. Donterrious has 18 years of experience in armed and unarmed security operations serving clients in North Florida and South Georgia. In 2014, founded his own security company and currently holds Class B, D, and G licenses through the State of Florida.

Certified Driver’s Test Examiners in Northwest Florida

Kathy Jackson

 

Employment for Driving Instructors

Cantor’s Driving School is always looking for good driving instructors who have first responder experience. Call 954-740-1103 to inquire about current opportunities, or send an email with your resume to cantorsdrivingfl@gmail.com.