Chief Harold Schapelhouman, Menlo Park Fire District and Battalion Chief Richard Fields, Los Angeles Fire Department join Captain Vern Salle, Chula Vista Police Department
The DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance, the leading 501(c)3 non-profit program advocating for and supporting the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) – also known as “drones” – for public safety missions has announced their inaugural Board of Advisors.
The 40-person roster contains many of the most renowned names from the realm of public safety UAS.
The inaugural 2019-2020 DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance Board of Advisors is comprised of:
- Greg Agvent, Senior Director of National News Technology, CNN AIR, Georgia
- Jim Baker, Sergeant, UAS Lead, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Florida
- Chris Barron, Executive Director, State Firefighters’ & Fire Marshals’ Association, Texas
- Leon Borrman, UAS Lead, Albany County Sheriff’s Office, New York
- Gregory Crutsinger, Ph.D. GIS Specialist, Founder, Scholar Farms, California
- Darshan Divakaran, UAS Program Engineer, NCDOT, North Carolina
- Angi English, Chief of Staff, New Mexico Department of Homeland Security, New Mexico
- Richard Fields Battalion Chief, UAS Lead, Los Angeles City Fire Department, California
- Paige Fitzgerald, UAS Program Manager, Delaware Emergency Management, Delaware
- Kay Goss, Editorial Board of Review, Journal of Emergency Management, Virginia
- Chris Gould, Battalion Chief, Southern Manatee Fire & Rescue, Florida
- Chris Grazioso, sUAS Team Leader, Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council, Massachusetts
- Charlie Guddemi, State Interoperability Coordinator, Emergency Management, District of Columbia
- David Hartman, Battalion Chief (Ret.), Charlottesville Fire Department, Virginia
- Depu John, Detective 2nd Grade, New York Police Department New York
- Drew Jurkofsky, Accident Reconstruction, City of Fort Collins Police Department, Colorado
- Coitt Kessler, UAS Lead, Austin Fire Department, Texas
- Robert Koester, Ph.D. Lost Person Behavior, CEO, dbS Productions, Virginia
- David Kovar, CEO, Unmanned & Robotic Systems Analysis (URSA), New Hampshire
- John Lambert, President, AUVSI Florida Peninsula Chapter, Florida
- Cathy Lanier, Senior Vice President of Security, National Football League, New York
- Michael Leo, Captain, UAS Lead, Fire Department of New York, New York
- Anthony Loperfido, Police Sergeant, UAS Lead, Miami Beach Police Department, Florida
- Thomas Madigan, Commander, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, California
- Timothy Martin, Captain, Lead UAS Instructor, Huntington Beach Police Department, California
- Ben Miller, Director, Colorado Center of Excellence of Advanced Aerial Firefighting, Colorado
- Keenan Newton, UAS Coordinator, Lynwood Fire Department, Illinois
- Mickey Osterreicher, General Counsel, National Press Photographers Association, New York
- Eddie Reyes, Director, Prince William County Office of Public Safety, Virginia
- Steve Rhode, Chief Pilot, Wake Forest Fire Department, North Carolina
- Gene Robinson, UAS SAR, Principal, Drone Pilot, Inc, Texas
- Matt Rogers, Police Sergeant, Aviation Unit, Michigan State Police, Michigan
- Chris Sadler, Deputy Chief, UAS Lead, York County Fire and Life Safety, Virginia
- Harold Schapelhouman, Chief, Menlo Park Fire District, California
- Patrick Sherman, Drone Advisor/Thermographer, Tualatin Valley Fire Rescue, Oregon
- Don Shinnamon, Vice President of Operations, Unmanned Safety Institute, Florida
- Christopher Todd, Executive Director, AIRT (Airborne International Response Team), Florida
- Kenneth Voiret, Captain, Air Operations Division, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Florida
- Cliff Weaver, EMA Director, Evansville/Vanderburgh Emergency Management Agency, Indiana
- Jay Willmott, UAS Subject Matter Expert, Virginia Center for Innovative Technology, Virginia
- Austin Worcester, Senior Program Manager sUAS, Civil Air Patrol, Washington DC
“We are extremely fortunate to have such high caliber leaders willing to pitch-in and support the DRONERESPONDERS mission,” says Chief Charles Werner (ret.), Director of the DRONERESPONDERS program. “This board of advisors will provide their specific expertise to help ensure that we are focusing on the proper goals and objectives to facilitate the use of UAS by public safety agencies.”
Werner says all DRONERESPONDERS advisory board members will serve an initial term from July 1 to December 31, 2020. The advisors will then either be retained or replaced for a new 1 or 2-year terms starting January 1, 2021 and resulting in one-half of the DRONERESPONDERS advisory board positions re-opening on an annual basis.
“The adoption of UAS in the public safety sector is evolving extremely rapidly,” says Werner. “It’s vital for DRONERESPONDERS to keep pace by continually absorbing and promoting new concepts and fresh ideas from those serving as our advisors.”
Werner realizes there is an abundance of UAS thought leadership within the public safety domain. He wants more individuals to become involved and contribute to the DRONEREPONDERS mission through spearheading various committees, working groups and task forces. He says DRONERESPONDERS is presently establishing partnerships across academia, industry, government agencies (local, state, and federal), and nongovernmental organizations.
The DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance is operated as an official program under AIRT, Inc., a Florida-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization formed in 2017 to help provide unmanned aviation research and charitable contributions for public safety and disaster relief. Individuals and organizational representatives interested in becoming more involved in the DRONERESPONDERS program should visit droneresponders.org to join the no-fee program.
“Make no mistake, we want and need all the help we can get in making the DRONERESPONDERS program successful,” says Werner. “We have opportunities for everyone who has a strong desire to participate and contribute to get involved!”
Source: Press Release