ADMINISTRATION
Thomas Wieczorek, Director, ICMA Center for Public Safety Management
Thomas Wieczorek is an expert in police, fire and emergency medical services operations. He has served as a police officer, fire chief, director of public safety, and city manager in Ionia, Michigan, before retiring in June 2005. In 2005, Wieczorek became the executive director of the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, Inc., and oversaw the rebranding of that organization as the Center for Public Safety Excellence. He joined ICMA in 2008.
Wieczorek has taught a number of programs at Grand Valley State University, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and Grand Rapids Community College. He frequently testified for the Michigan Municipal League before the state and federal legislature and in several courts as an expert in the field of city management, accident reconstruction, and fire department management.
He is the past-president of the Michigan Local Government Manager’s Association; served as the vice-chairperson of the Commission on Fire Officer Designation; and serves as a representative of ICMA on the NFPA 1710 and 1738 career committee. Wieczorek is a board member on the International Accreditation Service, a subsidiary of the International Code Council, and sits on a commission that will accredit sprinkler installers through the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc.
He worked with the National League of Cities and the Department of Homeland Security to create and deliver a program on emergency management for local officials titled, “Crisis Leadership for Local Government Officials.” It has been presented in 46 states and has been assigned a course number by the DHS. He represents ICMA on the National Homeland Security Coalition (NHSC) and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
In 2000, Wieczorek received the ICMA Mark E. Keane “Award for Excellence” – the association’s highest award – and was honored as ICMA's City Manager of the Year (1999) and Person of the Year (2003) by the Rural Water Association of Michigan. He received a distinguished service award from the Michigan Municipal League in 2005.
Leonard Matarese, BA, MPA, ICMA-CM, IPMA-CP, Director of Research and Project Development, ICMA Center for Public Safety Management
Leonard Matarese is a specialist in public sector administration with particular expertise in public safety issues. He has forty-three years of experience as a law enforcement officer, police chief, public safety director, city manager and major city human resources commissioner. Matarese was one of the original advisory board members and trainer for the first NIJ/ICMA Community Oriented Policing Project which has subsequently trained thousands of municipal practitioners on the techniques of the community policing philosophy over the past twenty years. He has conducted numerous studies of emergency services agencies with particular attention to matching staffing issues with calls for service workload.
Recognized as an innovator by his law enforcement colleagues, Matarese served as the Chairman of the SE Quadrant, Florida, Blue Lighting Strike Force, a 71-agency U.S. Customs Service anti-terrorist and narcotics task force. He also served as president of the Miami-Dade County Police Chief’s Association – one of America’s largest regional police associations. Matarese represents ICMA on national projects involving the United States Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, Office of Community Policing and the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. He has also served as a project reviewer for National Institute of Justice and is the subject matter expert on several ICMA / USAID police projects in Central America. As a public safety director he managed fire/EMS systems including ALS transport and was a national leader in the public access AED program in the 1990s. Matarese recently addressed the annual conferences of The COPs Office and the Bureau of Justice Assistance and was a keynote speaker at the annual PERF Conference. He was plenary speaker at the TAMSEC conference in Linkoping, Sweden, and a plenary session chair at the UNHabitat conference on architectural design for public safety in Barcelona, Spain. He has a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in political science. Matarese is a member of two national honor societies and has served as an adjunct faculty member for several universities. He holds Certified Professional designation from the International Public Management Association- Human Resources. Leonard has extensive experience in labor management issues, particularly in police and fire departments and is currently editing an ICMA book on the selection of police and fire chiefs.
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS TEAM
Subject Matter Expert
Dov Chelst, Ph.D., Director of Quantitative Analysis
Dr. Chelst is an expert in analyzing public safety departments' workload and deployment. He manages the analysis of all public safety data for the Center. Dr. Chelst is involved in all phases of The Center’s studies including initial data collection, on-site review, large-scale dataset processing, statistical analysis, and designing data reports. To date, he has managed data analysis projects for over 100 city and county agencies ranging in population from 8,000 to 800,000.
Dr. Chelst has a Ph.D. mathematics from Rutgers University and a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in mathematics and physics from Yeshiva University. He has taught mathematics, physics and statistics, at the university level for nine years. Dr. Chelst has conducted research in complex analysis, mathematical physics, and wireless communication networks and has presented his academic research at local, national and international conferences, and participated in workshops across the country.
Subject Matter Expert
Gang Wang, Ph.D., Senior Data Analyst for Public Safety Studies, ICMA Senior Public Safety Consultant – Operations Research
Gang Wang received dual bachelor degrees in industrial design and management science, and an M.S. in information systems from Chongqing University in China. He earned a Ph.D. degree in industrial engineering from Wayne State University. Dr. Wang has three years of experience in enterprise information system and six years of experience in data analysis and applied mathematical modeling. He has rich experience in areas of automotive, travel, and public safety operations research with particular emphasis on fire and EMS. Dr. Wang has completed more than forty fire and EMS studies in twenty different states and has published a book chapter and several journal articles.
Subject Matter Expert
Professor Kenneth R. Chelst, Ph.D., Past Chair and Professor of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering of Wayne State University, ICMA Senior Public Safety Consultant – Operations Research
Dr. Chelst is an expert in the application of advanced mathematical models for all emergency resources planning, especially police. He lead a demonstration project for the city of Detroit Police Department which cut response times by 40 percent using continuous improvement and data driven decision making. Over the past two decades, Dr. Chelst has studied several dozen emergency services operations using data-driven techniques to determine the most efficient organizational structures to provide public safety services. He holds a Ph.D. degree in operations research from M.I.T. where his dissertation topic was Mathematical Models of Police Patrol Deployment. His research interests include operations research models applied to emergency services, structured decision making. He is a nationally recognized expert on the merger of police and fire services into a public safety department and on the relative performance of one versus two officer patrol units.
Subject Matter Expert
David Martin, Ph.D., Senior Researcher in the Center for Urban Studies, Wayne State University, ICMA Senior Pubic Safety Consultant – Operations Research
Dr. Martin specializes in policy analysis, program evaluation and computer programming. He has developed software for mapping calls for service data from fire departments, EMS, and police agencies for geographic analysis of workload. He has worked with several police departments to implement CompStat-style mapping and analysis tools that support the tactical deployment of personnel. Dr. Martin teaches statistics at Wayne State University and is also a program evaluator for four Department of Justice Weed and Seed sites.
FIRE/EMS UNIT
Senior Manager
Chief Joseph Pozzo (Ret.), MPA, CFO. Former Deputy Director, Volusia County Department of Public Protection; former Director and Fire Chief, Volusia County, Florida, Retired Fire Chief, Loudoun County, Virginia, former Fire Chief Portsmouth, Virginia.
Chief Pozzo has enjoyed a thirty-four-year career in public service. Before joining the ICMA team, Chief Pozzo served as the deputy director of the Department of Public Protection in Volusia County, Florida, where he was responsible for the operations of Fire, EMS, Emergency Management, Medical Examiner, Beach Safety, Corrections, and Animal Services. He was formerly chief of the Volusia County Fire Services. This agency is a combination department providing fire suppression and EMS services with career firefighters and volunteer members. The agency operates out of twenty-three stations.
Prior to Chief Pozzo’s appointment in 2010 in Volusia County, he served as the chief of the Loudoun County Department of Fire and Rescue. This agency is a combination fire and rescue system providing fire, rescue, and emergency management services to one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation. While there, the fire and rescue system provided services to more than 275,000 permanent residents living in 520 square miles of diverse suburban and rural area located within the National Capital Region. Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management services were executed through 450-plus career staff and more than 1,300 volunteer members operating out of nineteen stations. Prior to his appointment with Loudoun County, Chief Pozzo served as chief of the Portsmouth Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services Department. This agency is one of the oldest professional departments on the eastern seaboard and serves more than 95,000 residents within a thirty-square-mile area. Chief Pozzo also served in the city of Virginia Beach Fire Department for nineteen years reaching the level of battalion chief prior to embarking on his career as a fire chief/director.
He holds a master of public administration degree from Troy University, where he graduated with honors, a bachelor of arts in public administration from Saint Leo University and several associate degrees, including an AAS in Fire Science and Protective Services. He holds the Chief Fire Officer Designation from Center for Public Safety Excellence and has served as an adjunct instructor for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs.
Senior Manager
Chief Steven G. Knight, Ph.D, MPA, BS, EFO, CFO, Assistant Chief, St. Petersburg, FL Fire and Rescue Department.
Steve Knight is a twenty-year veteran of the fire and EMS service and is currently the assistant fire chief with the St. Petersburg, FL Fire and Rescue Department. St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue protects the lives and property of over 260,000 residents and responds to over 40,000 emergency incidents annually from twelve stations. During his tenure with SPFR, Chief Knight has served as the chief of rescue. Knight also currently serves as a peer assessor for the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Commission on Fire Accreditation International as a technical advisor and peer assessor.
Locally, Chief Knight is a member of the Pinellas County EMS Advisory Council, St. Petersburg College of Fire Science/Emergency Administration Advisory Committee, Leadership St. Pete Alumni, National Society of Executive Fire Officers, Florida Fire Chiefs Association, International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the American Society of Public Administration.
Knight received the outstanding research award by the National Fire Academy/ United States Fire Administration in 2007, as well as the A. Don Manno Award for Excellence in Research by the National Society for Executive Fire Officers, also in 2007.
Knight holds a Ph.D from the University of South Florida in curriculum and instruction and a minor in research and measurement, a master's degree in public administration from Troy University and a bachelor's in Fire & Safety Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. Chief Knight is also a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program through the U.S. Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Knight is an accredited Chief Fire Officer through the Center for Public Safety Excellence and holds numerous Florida state fire and EMS technical certifications. Knight also serves as an adjunct instructor at St. Petersburg College in the Fire Science and Public Safety Administration Program, is the former program director – Emergency Medical Services at Manatee Technical Institute.
Senior Manager
Gerard J. Hoetmer, MPA, retired Executive Director of Public Entity Risk Institute, Fairfax, Virginia
Gerry Hoetmer is an expert in fire services, emergency management, and risk management. He served as the founding executive director of the Public Entity Risk Institute, a nonprofit organization that provided training, technical assistance, and research on risk management issues for local government and other public and quasi-public organizations. During his tenure as executive director he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Disaster Roundtable. Prior to his position as executive director at PERI, Hoetmer worked at ICMA for nineteen years, most recently as the director of research and development. He has written extensively on local government emergency management, the fire service, code enforcement, and risk management issues.
Seminal works include the first report to Congress on fire master planning and the first edition of Emergency Management: Principles and Practices for Local Government. In addition to providing expert testimony before Congress and local arbitration boards on fire staffing and scheduling issues, Hoetmer represented ICMA on the NFPA 1500 Standard on Occupational Safety and Health; NFPA 1201, the Standard for Providing Emergency services to the Public; and the NFPA 1710, Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments. Mr. Hoetmer has developed and conducted training programs and seminars at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute and the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
He holds a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York, New Paltz and a master of public administration degree from the University of Colorado at Denver.
Senior Manager
Mark O’Keefe, BAS, Operations Manager, Volusia County Emergency Medical Services (EVAC) Daytona Beach, Florida
Mark O’Keefe is an expert in the management of large High Performance Emergency Medical Services (HPEMS). The Volusia County system covers 1,207 square miles, sixteen cities, forty-seven miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches, two major rivers, urban, suburban, rural and wilderness areas as well as the many special events such as The Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Bike Week, Spring Break, and Biketoberfest. In addition to providing daily supervision of all on-duty employees on EMS units he also manages the System Status Controllers in the communications center and the deployment of EMS in Volusia. He has thirty-three years of experience in the emergency medical services holding numerous field positions and supervisory and management assignments as well as serving as chief training officer for several EMS agencies. He holds the American Ambulance Association, Certified Ambulance Service Manager (ASM) credential.
Mr. O’Keefe served on the Editorial Board Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) at Elsevier Public Safety Publications for twenty-one years and wrote a monthly column for the journal. He is an expert in Speed Loading Inventory Control as well as Deployment Monitor Systems, having worked extensively with the Mobile Area Routing and Vehicle Location Information System™ (MARVLIS) High Performance EMS ambulance deployment monitor system for System Status Controllers.
He holds the bachelor of applied science (BAS) in supervision and management with honors from Daytona State College where he was selected as Distinguished Baccalaureate Program Student of the Year. O'Keefe also earned an associate of arts degree in education from Daytona State College and an associate of applied science in emergency medical services from Daytona Beach Community College.
Senior Manager
Chief John (Jack) Brown (Ret.), BA, MS, EFO, Director, Arlington County Office of Emergency Management, Retired Assistant Chief Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department
Jack Brown’s forty-year public safety career includes twenty-nine years with the Fairfax County, Virginia Fire & Rescue Department, where he retired as assistant fire chief of operations.
He served in a number of operational and staff positions, including the Office of the Fire Marshal where he attained NFPA certification as a Fire Inspector II and Fire Investigator. As an investigator, he conducted post fire and post blast investigations, assisting in the prosecution of offences involving arson and illegal explosives. He served as a planning section chief and task force leader for the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Task Force (VA TF-1). He deployed to Nairobi, Kenya, as plans chief in response to the 1998 embassy bombing and as task force leader on a deployment to Taiwan in response to an earthquake in 1999.
Upon his retirement from Fairfax County in 2000, he became the assistant chief for the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management, where he led a team of firefighters to the Pentagon on 9/11 and assisted the Arlington County Fire Department as the initial planning section chief for the incident. Jack served as planning section chief on a Northern Virginia multi-jurisdictional emergency management task force that reestablished the New Orleans Emergency Operations Center just after Hurricane Katrina.
He retired from Loudoun County in 2006 to pursue a career in emergency management. Brown retired from the Coast Guard Reserve as a Chief Warrant Officer 4, specializing in port safety and security, with thirty-three years of combined Army and Coast Guard Reserve service. After 9/11, he served on active duty for forty-seven months, including fifteen months in the Middle East. He received the Bronze Star Medal for actions in Baghdad, Iraq while supporting combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in fire science administration from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in quality systems management from the National Graduate School, Falmouth, Massachusetts. He is a 1997 graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Emergency Training Center, Emmitsburg, Maryland. He has been an adjunct professor at the Northern Virginia Community College and the University of the District of Columbia in the fire science curriculums. He is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program in the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.
Senior Manager
Deputy Chief Howard J. Dawley - Deputy Chief of Planning and Asset Management, Loudoun County, Virginia, Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management
Deputy Chief Dawley has enjoyed a rewarding twenty-eight-year career as a public safety professional with the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management, located in Northern Virginia.
For the past seventeen years, Deputy Chief Dawley has served as the department’s senior staff manager responsible for the department’s Planning and Asset Management Division, comprised of five program areas (Planning, Facilities, Fleet, Logistics, and Respiratory Protection) that collectively provide critical infrastructure support to a staff of nearly 550 career and 1,000-plus volunteer service providers. This force jointly protects a 521-square-mile jurisdiction of more than 330,000 residents, representing one of the nation’s fastest-growing communities over the past two decades.
Deputy Chief Dawley has been instrumental in providing a successful strategic framework for effective and timely development of capital facility projects to support the Department’s core mission in a rapidly growing community, delivering the jurisdiction’s first government planned, designed, constructed, and outfitted fire-rescue station in 1999, subsequently overseeing a total of thirty capital facility projects comprising nearly 300,000 square feet – including additional fire-rescue stations, a fire-rescue training center campus, an emergency operations center, a fire department logistics/warehouse, a fleet/apparatus and radio shop, administrative offices, and pending relocation/expansion of the county’s emergency communications/911 center.
Deputy Chief Dawley’s work employing geographic information system (GIS) software to optimize strategic location of future stations was recognized in the county’s receipt of a National Association of Counties (NACO) Achievement Award. He is experienced and skilled in managing all aspects of facility development and operation. He has completed coursework at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and is a graduate of the University of Maryland Fire Service Staff and Command Program. Holding numerous fire and rescue related credentials, he has also distinguished himself as a qualified Ken Blanchard Institute instructor for "Situational Leadership" training.
Senior Manager
Chief J. Gregory Love (Ret.), M.Ed., B.A.; Former Chief of Fire- Jackson, MI, Royal Oak Township, MI, and Buffalo International Airport; Former Executive Deputy Fire Commissioner- City Of Detroit; Former Deputy Fire Commissioner- Field Operations, City of Buffalo, NY
Chief Love has enjoyed a twenty-eight-year career in municipal public safety. Prior to joining the ICMA team, Chief Love rose through the ranks of the Detroit Fire Department, serving in Fire Fighting, Fire Prevention/Fire Marshal, Training, and Court Enforcement Divisions. Driven by his passion for education and fire prevention, Chief Love was also certified by the Michigan State Police Firefighter Training Council as a Fire Instructor and Fire Inspector. After serving his hometown for more than 26 years, he retired from the Detroit Fire Department as executive deputy fire commissioner, where he was responsible for fire operations (fifty-five stations/thirty battalion chiefs), fire prevention, and EMS. His leadership served a population of 1 million citizens, spanning a 134-square-mile area. Chief Love also served as fire chief/ fire marshal of Royal Oak Township, MI, where he supervised thirty crossed-trained personnel and managed Fire Prevention, Code Enforcement, Plans Review, and Fire Investigations. In addition, he has formerly presided as deputy fire commissioner for the city of Buffalo, NY- Fire Department, a department that consists of over 750 firefighters, operating out of twenty-five stations, and servicing over 300,000 permanent residents. In 2006, Chief Love was appointed chief of the Buffalo International Airport, where he chaired the Joint Health and Safety Committee and designed and coordinated annual Tabletop and Full Scale Emergency Exercises for Erie/Niagara Counties First Responders.
He holds a master of education from Wayne State University, a bachelor of arts in public administration from the University of Detroit- Mercy, and an associate of science in fire protection technology from Wayne County Community College. He is certified by the Michigan State Police Firefighter Training Council as a Fire Officer III.
Senior Associate
Donald C. James, Retired Assistant Fire Chief Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department
During a career spanning thirty years, Donald C. James retired in 2005 as an assistant fire chief with the Miami Dade Fire Rescue Department, considered to be one of the nation’s premier fire rescue agencies comprised of more than 1,700 firefighters and paramedics. In that capacity, he assumed oversight of various functional areas to include Fire Prevention, Facilities Management and Construction, Communications, Emergency Medical Services and Training Divisions. Previously while serving as a Division Director, he was responsible for multimillion dollar budgets for Community Relations, Emergency Medical Services, Communications and Fire Prevention.
In 1996, he was honored by the National Fire Protection Association as the “Learn Not To Burn Champion” with a Safe Cities Award Grant. Working in conjunction with Miami Dade Public Schools, the grant provides for the teaching of a fire safety curriculum at the elementary grade levels. Among other accomplishments, he was also instrumental in the development of the department’s Infectious Disease Control Policy and Procedure – one of the first of its kind in the fire service nationwide.
Mr. James received his Associates degree in Fire Science Technology from Miami Dade College. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Barry University in Miami Shores, and Master’s degree in Public Administration from Florida International University, Miami.
Senior Associate
Chief Dan Kleman, (Ret.), MGA, city of Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department, Former City Manager of Tallahassee, County Manager of Hillsbourgh County, CAO of Jacksonville, Florida, ICMA Senior Public Safety Manager – Fire / EMS
Dan Kleman is the retired director and fire chief of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and was responsible for 1,300 employees. Since arriving at JFRD in 2006, Chief Kleman, working with his management team, expanded management training and professional development for JFRD's officers, opened a new fire station and three replacement stations, identified more than $1 million in overtime cost savings, and enhanced JFRD's recruitment program. Kleman recently developed a ten-year plan, unanimously adopted by City Council, which charts the department's expansion so it can continue to meet Jacksonville's rapidly growing demand for fire and emergency medical services.
Kleman's career includes serving as chief administrative officer of Jacksonville, Florida, county manager of Hillsborough County, Florida, and city manager of Tallahassee, Florida. came to Jacksonville in 2004 to serve as chief administrative officer. Kleman has been named Outstanding Public Administrator of the Year by both the Tallahassee and Tampa Bay chapters of the American Society of Public Administration. He is past president ICMA and the Florida City and County Management Association. He also was an adjunct professor in Florida State University's Masters of Public Administration program. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and his master's degree in governmental administration from the Wharton Graduate School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of the senior executive program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
POLICE UNIT
Senior Manager
Inspector James E. McCabe (Ret.), Ph.D., M. Phil., M.A., B.A., Assistant Professor of Criminal
Justice, Sacred Heart University
Dr. McCabe retired as an inspector with the New York City Police Department after twenty years of service. As inspector, his assignments included commanding officer of the NYPD Office of Labor Relations and Commanding Officer of the Training Bureau. As a deputy inspector, Dr. McCabe was the commanding officer of the Police Academy with direct supervision of more than 750 staff officers and 2,000 recruits. He also served as the executive officer in the Police Commissioner’s Office assisting in the overall management of the NYPD. His field experience includes, commanding officer, 110th Precinct; executive officer, 113th Precinct, assignment to the Operations Division/Office of Emergency Management; and uniform patrol as an officer and sergeant in Manhattan. He has published extensively and presented to numerous conferences, including the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
Dr. McCabe holds a Ph.D. specializing in organizational behavior, a Master of Philosophy, in Criminal Justice, from CUNY Graduate Center, a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice, from John Jay College, a Master of Arts in Labor and Policy Studies, SUNY Empire State College, and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, CUNY Queens College, June, 1989. He is a graduate of the Executive Management Program, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the 189th Session of the FBI National Academy.
Senior Manager
Chief Bernard Melekian (Ret.), Ph.D., M. Phil., M.A., B.A., Retired Director of the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office
Bernard Melekian has nearly forty years of experience in local law enforcement, including thirteen years as the chief of police in Pasadena, California. He served with the Santa Monica Police Department for twenty-three years and with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office for one year. While serving as the chief of police, he spent six months as the acting fire chief and nine months as the acting city manager. During his career he was awarded the Medal of Valor in 1978 and the Medal of Courage in 1980.
In 2009, Dr. Melekian was selected by Attorney General Eric Holder as the 4th Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), U.S. Department of Justice. During that time, he received national recognition for his work in focusing federal grant making on the solving of local problems. Dr. Melekian holds a bachelor's degree in American history and a master's degree in public administration, both from California State University, Northridge. In 2012, he was awarded a Doctorate in Policy, Planning and Development from the University of Southern California for his work on law enforcement discipline systems. He is a graduate of the 150th session of the National Academy and Class 20 of the California Command College. He is currently attending the Harvard Executive Session. Dr. Melekian served for three years in the United States Army and twenty-five years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. His service with the Coast Guard included two active duty deployments including service in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
Senior Manager
Professor Paul E. O’Connell, Ph.D., J.D. , Professor of Criminal Justice, Iona College, New Rochelle, New York, former NYPD Officer
Dr. O’Connell is a leading expert on the application of the Compstat model of police management. He has been a full-time member of the Criminal Justice faculty at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, since 1994. He received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, (CUNY) where his doctoral thesis was The History and Development of the Compstat Model of Police Management (2002). Dr. O’Connell began his professional career in criminal justice in 1981, serving the New York City Police Department (NYPD), first as a police officer, and then as a Police Academy instructor, in-service trainer and curriculum developer. After receiving an MPA in 1984 and a J.D. in 1989, he worked as a trial attorney with the firm of Cummings & Lockwood in Stamford, CT. He is the former associate dean of the School of Arts and Science and former chair of Iona College’s Criminal Justice Department. He is a full professor and teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, conducts funded research, publishes scholarly papers and lectures widely on the topics of police performance measurement, integrity management and law enforcement training systems. He is the author of Performance-Based Management for Police Organizations, Waveland (2007).
Dr. O’Connell has provided consulting services to a variety of government agencies, including assessment of existing policing policies and practices, and development of proactive management strategies. Over the years, he has collaborated with the Center for Technology in Government (Albany, N.Y.), Giuliani Partners (New York, N.Y.) and the Center for Society, Law and Justice (University of New Orleans). In September 2010, he received a Fulbright Grant Award, via the Fulbright Specialists Program and the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), to work with the Turkish National Police (TNP), in Ankara, Turkey. From September 2010 to November 2010 he worked closely with the TNP to study and evaluate that agency’s capacity to develop and deliver recruit, in-service, executive/leadership and “special” police training to personnel assigned throughout the country. The project entailed field research, teaching at the national academy, a series of detailed reports, close interaction with the Turkish National Police Academy and the Faculty of Security Sciences, and a number of on-going research projects regarding field training and integrity management.
Senior Manager
Chief James Gabbard (Ret.), BA, retired City Manager and retired Police Chief of Vero Beach, Florida, retired Commander, West Palm Beach Police, Past President Florida Police Chiefs Association
James M. Gabbard is the retired city manager of Vero Beach, Florida, appointed in 2005. Prior to his appointment as city manager, he completed thirty-seven years of law enforcement service in a series of increasingly responsible positions. Gabbard formerly served as the police chief of the Vero Beach Police Department. During his tenure as chief he served as interim city manager on several occasions. Prior to his service with Vero Beach, he was a member of the West Palm Beach Police Department, serving in all divisions of the department and in many assignments including detective lieutenant of homicide. Upon his promotion to captain he was placed in command of organized crime and organized drug crime investigations. He retired from West Palm Beach in 1986 to accept the chief’s position in Vero Beach.
Gabbard has received numerous professional recognitions and was elected president of the Florida Police Chiefs Association, one of the largest organizations of senior police managers in the United States. He was cited for bravery by Gov. Jeb Bush before a joint session of the Florida State Legislature for his actions during several hurricanes that stuck Vero Beach. Gabbard is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar. He is currently working with the Florida Police Chiefs Association as their legislative liason to the Florida State Legislature.
Senior Associate
Chief Jeffrey M. Hadley, BA, MA, Chief of the Kalamazoo, Michigan, Public Safety Department, ICMA Senior Public Safety Manager – Public Safety
Jeff Hadley is the Chief of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety which is the largest fully integrated Police/Fire/EMS agency in the United States. The agency is comprised of 243 sworn fully cross-trained public safety officers. The city of Kalamazoo is a multi-cultural community comprised of approximately 77,000 people and is home to Western Michigan University.
Prior to his appointment to the Kalamazoo position he served with the Fort Wayne, Indiana, police department. As a captain there he served as a patrol division commander as director of training and as commander of the vice and narcotics bureau. Hadley holds a master's degree and bachelor's degree in management from Indiana Wesleyan University. He is a graduate of FBI National Academy and the DEA Drug Unit Commanders Academy. He holds Michigan Firefighter I and II certification. Hadley has served as an adjunct professor at several universities teaching graduate-level classes.
Senior Associate
Chief Todd Wuestewald, (Ret.) Ph.D., M.P.A., M.S., B.A., Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Oklahoma, retired Chief of Police, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Police Department.
Chief Wuestewald currently teaches criminal justice, administrative leadership, and liberal studies at the University of Oklahoma. He recently retired from law enforcement after a thirty-year career, having worked for the Broken Arrow and Tulsa, Oklahoma, police departments. His police experience includes line officer, supervisory, and command responsibility in patrol, detectives, K-9, SWAT, planning and research, training, public relations, and professional standards. From 2003 to 2011, he served as chief of the Broken Arrow Police Department, a period in which the agency was recognized with numerous awards for innovation and crime control. Upon retirement, Chief Wuestewald was honored with career citations from both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, and FBI Director Robert Mueller. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Senior Management Institute for Police, FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar, and the Rocky Mountain Leadership Program.
Chief Wuestewald is a leading expert in participative approaches to organizational management. His shared leadership philosophy of police administration has been credited with improving workforce morale, engagement, communications, and productivity, while reducing citizen complaints and employee turnover. This innovative program garnered recognition from the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National League of Cities. With over twenty-two years as a certified law enforcement trainer, Chief Wuestewald has conducted both line officer and executive training at the state, national, and international levels. He is also noted for his international training and research collaborations, publishing regularly in this area.
Chief Wuestewald received his Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State, Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma, Master of Science in criminal justice from Northeastern State, and his Ph.D. in workforce education from Oklahoma State University. He has been widely published on the topics of participative leadership, teams, law enforcement training and education, community policing, narcotic investigations, tactical operations, and criminal justice research collaborations. His law enforcement and management research has been recognized with awards from the Academy of Management, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the scholarly journal Police Practice & Research.
Chief Wuestewald’s current research interests center on police organizational culture, employee engagement, and police attitudes toward the community.
Subject Matter Expert – Legal and Internal Affairs
George Aylesworth, J.D., Retired Police Major and Chief of Legal Bureau, Miami-Dade Police Department, Miami, Florida, ICMA Senior Public Safety Manager - Legal
George Aylesworth is a retired Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) major who, for more than 25 years, was in charge of the Miami-Dade Police Legal Bureau. Mr. Aylesworth began his career with MDPD as a uniformed police officer in 1975, shortly after graduating from the University of Miami, School of Law. He worked in that capacity until 1978, when he was assigned to the Police Legal Bureau. Promoted to command the Legal Bureau in 1980, he remained in that position until retiring.
During his tenure with the Police Legal Bureau, Aylesworth had the opportunity to work on many challenging issues, such as those involving imposition of special prohibitions and use of mutual aid agreements during a state of emergency, police use of force, and internal discipline. Also, as a result of his affiliation with international, state and local law enforcement associations, he had the opportunity to work with and assist many police chiefs, sheriffs, and other law enforcement agency heads. Additionally, Aylesworth worked extensively on the state legislative programs of these associations.
Subject Matter Expert - Citizen and Victim Relations
Christine Cole, M.A., M.P.A., Executive Director, Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government
Christine Cole is executive director of the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at Harvard University where she convenes and moderates public and private discussions among scholars and practioners on law enforcement issues. She has previously served as the chief of staff for the Executive Office of Public Safety for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts where she designed and led policy and operational reforms in a wide range of public safety issues.
She was the community liaison and policy advisor to the superintendent of police of the Lowell Police Department, where she linked the community policing efforts of the 300-member agency and implemented a community policing effort that saw a 100-percent increase in community groups in six years. She also supervised the city’s “Weed and Seed” project as well as obtaining grants in excess of $10 million. Prior to this assignment she was the victim witness advocate for the Middlesex District Attorney in Cambridge where she implemented the Victim’s Rights Law in Massachusetts’s largest district attorney’s office.
Senior Associate
Chief Demosthenes M. Long (Ret.) J.D., M.A., Former Assistant Chief of NYPD, Commanding Officer NYPD Police Academy, Former Deputy Commissioner / Undersheriff Westchester County Public Safety Department
Demosthenes Long has thirty years of law enforcement experience, including twenty-one years with the New York City Police Department where he retired as assistant chief. His assignments included commanding officer, School Safety Division, where he managed 4,600 police officers and school safety agents and administered an operating budget of $133 million. He served as commanding officer, Office of Deputy Commissioner Community Affairs, where he was responsible for developing, implementing, and assessing programs to strengthen police/community relations; commanding officer, Police Academy, responsible for providing entry-level, in-service, promotional and executive level training for 53,000 uniform and civilian members of the department; executive officer, Office of the First Deputy Commissioner and Executive Officer, 47th Precinct and also assignment as supervisor of Patrol for 17 Bronx Precincts, Transit Districts and Housing Police Service Areas.
After retiring from the NYPD he was appointed as first deputy commissioner / undersheriff for the Westchester County Department of Public Safety. Responsibilities include the administrative planning, organization, coordination, execution and control of the fiscal, administrative, support and training functions of the 325-member police department.
He holds the Juris Doctorate degree from New York Law School, and Master of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is ABD for the Ed.D. degree in Leadership Management at St. John Fisher University.
Finance Assessment Team
Senior Finance Expert
Susan Robinson, MPA, Former Deputy Director of Government Finance Officers Association, Former City Manager, Chevy Chase, MD.
Susan Robinson has more than thirty-five years of experience as a senior executive in local government, consulting and non-profit sector management, serving as a city manager, assistant superintendent for finance and information systems for the Arlington Virginia Public Schools, deputy director of administration for the Government Finance Officers Association, and as a private consultant to local government. While in Arlington, she managed an operating budget in excess of $400 million and led restructuring efforts in a variety of functional areas, including a major effort to reorganize all technology and information system functions. She has a broad background in all areas of municipal management with a particular emphasis in finance, capital improvement budgeting, technology, and urban planning.
Robinson holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Utah and a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University.