Extraordinary Leaders on an Extraordinary Day
American Security Today (AST), had the distinct pleasure to catch up with the new NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell, the keynote speaker at ISC East.
Our interview followed the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Luncheon which was sold-out and featured a riveting address by Bill Bratton, former police commissioner of the NYPD, BPD, former Chief of the LAPD, and Executive Chairman, Teneo Risk.
Commissioner Criswell’s address to ISC East titled: LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE DECISION MAKING: A NEW DIRECTION IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, explained how the Department is utilizing technology to make informed, data-driven decisions, while also discussing the strategic vision for the Department and the importance of public-private partnerships.
Commissioner Criswell’s first-hand earned experiences in emergency preparedness, crisis management, and disaster response, including lessons learned and best practices to incorporate into organizations across the public and private sectors provided invaluable insight to all in attendance.
On behalf of AST Dr. Kathleen Kiernan, founder and CEO of Kiernan Group Holdings (KGH), a risk-management firm which provides state-of practice preparedness and resiliency services, sat down with the new NYC Emergency Management Commissioner, to discuss her experience and perspectives on the future of emergency management.
(Meet NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell. Courtesy of American Security Today (AST) and YouTube. Posted in Nov 2019.)
Two Extraordinary Leaders
Deanne Criswell was appointed Commissioner of the New York City Emergency Management Department in 2019, and is responsible for oversight of the City’s efforts to plan and prepare for emergencies, educate the public about preparedness, coordinate emergency response and recovery, and disseminate emergency information.
As NYC Emergency Management Commissioner, Criswell has managed the City’s response to emergencies including extreme summer heat, large fires, and power outages including blackouts on the west side of Manhattan and in southern Brooklyn in July 2019.
She has also coordinated the City’s readiness for planned events including the 2019 Ticker Tape Parade honoring the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and the 2019 New York City Marathon, the largest marathon in the world.
Prior to joining NYC Emergency Management, Criswell served as the leader of one of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Incident Management Assistance Teams and as a federal coordinating officer.
In this role, Criswell was the primary Federal representative responsible for leading the agency’s response to and recovery from emergencies and major disasters, from severe flooding in North Dakota to hurricanes in South Carolina to fires in Colorado.
She also served as the head of the Office of Emergency Management for the city of Aurora, Colorado, where she led strategic change in the city’s emergency and disaster planning.
During her tenure there, Criswell coordinated transitional housing and family reunification efforts in response to receiving 2000 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.
As an executive in the homeland security sector of the Cadmus Group LLC, Criswell served as a principal for clients at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as the private sector, providing exceptional technical expertise and the experience necessary to help her clients achieve their critical missions.
As a member of the Colorado Air National Guard, Criswell served 21 years as a firefighter and Deputy Fire Chief.
In 2001, she deployed to Kuwait to serve as a fire officer in crash fire rescue efforts, and in 2010, she deployed to Qatar, Afghanistan, and Iraq to advise senior leadership on fire protection requirements for new and existing military bases.
Criswell is a graduate of Colorado State University – Fort Collins, with a Bachelor of Science degree in technology education and training and holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado – Denver and a Master of Science in homeland security from the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
Criswell and Kiernan actually met at the Naval Postgraduate School where Kiernan is an Adjunct Professor in the Masters Program from which Criswell graduated.
Kiernan commented “Deanne stood out as a first among equals in what is an extraordinarily rigorous academic program wherein all of our students are leaders within their organizations and balance academic excellence with full-time critical jobs across the homeland security and homeland defense communities.”
“Deanne actually had to change her cohort because of her deployments, and she did so seamlessly, even across multiple timezones and from a war zone, she never missed an assignment.”
“That discipline defines her character and her commitment to excellence in everything that she does.”
(Learn More. Courtesy of NYC Emergency Management and YouTube. Posted on Aug 20, 2019.)
Kiernan Group Holdings
Dr. Kathleen Kiernan, is a 29-year veteran of Federal Law Enforcement, previously serving as the Assistant Director for the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
She is a recognized expert in strategic thinking, strategy development, and facilitating critical incident management exercises for senior leaders across government and private sector organizations.
These include national and international level policies related to criminality and terrorism; Active Shooter/Active Threat; Insider Threat, anomalous behavior detection; continuity of operations and crisis management.
In addition, Dr. Kiernan has served as a SME for risk assessment and gap analysis efforts for some of our nation’s most critical assets.
A graduate of the FBI’s National Executive Institute (Class 26); Chair, Emeritus of InfraGard, Kiernan is also an Advisor for the National Police Foundation (NPF) Center For Mass Violence Response Studies, and an Advisor for the Center for Advanced Red Teaming (CART), at the University of Albany, SUNY.
Kiernan Group Holdings (KGH) is a Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), operating in Alexandria, Virginia with office locations in Boston, Chicago and Florida.
A three-time Platinum Award recipient by AST for Best Homeland Security Education Program, KGH provides preparedness education and training services in active threat readiness and workplace violence prevention.
The training is specifically non-tactical in design and provides a common sense approach to replace confusion with clarity at the intersection of fear and fact, and drive the immediate decisions which can make a life-saving difference.
The KGH G.O.T. Preparedness® learning management system (www.gotpreparedness.com), provides learning reinforcement and e-learning capabilities for dispersed and deployed workforces.
Corporate-level offerings are designed to provide guidance for compliance with national and international level standards.
(Hear directly about the ‘Preparedness Without Paranoia’ Education and Training Series from Dr. Kathleen Kiernan, CEO & Founder of Kiernan Group Holdings. Dr. Kiernan, a self-described educator at heart, developed PWP® as a common sense approach to safety and security literally from the classroom to the boardroom. Courtesy of Kiernan Group Holdings and YouTube.)
Dr. Kiernan completed her Doctorate in Education at Northern Illinois University, and her Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence at the Joint Military Intelligence College in Washington, DC.
She also holds a Master of Arts in International Transactions from George Mason University, and she is an Adjunct faculty member at The Johns Hopkins University and at the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
As Platinum Award Winner for Best Security Education Program in the Annual ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards for Three Consecutive Years, American Security Today whole-heartedly recommends KGH Risk Assessments, Preparedness Academy, critical incident management exercises, educational courses and Mobile Preparedness Teams (MPT’s), for senior management across government and private sector organizations.
Unsurpassed in experience of instructors and caliber of training, from Hospitals, Campuses, Houses of Worship, our children’s Schools to Corporate Offices of any size, KGH will prepare your organization for Insider Threats such as Active Shooter Events, Terrorism Workplace Violence, and Active Threat Readiness.
Meeting or exceeding national level standards, KGH will empower your employees from the classroom to the boardroom to protect lives and protect your organization from vulnerabilities, risks of civil litigation, court settlements and penalties.
(Know Your Risk. Courtesy of Kiernan Group Holdings and YouTube. Posted on Jun 26, 2019.)
Reach out to Kiernan Group Holdings today at www.gotpreparedness.com.
Enter today to Compete in the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland SecurityAwards at https://americansecuritytoday.com/ast-awards/.
American Security Today is pleased to announce that Deann Criswell, the NYC Emergency Management Commissioner will deliver the keynote address at the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon Banquet in New York City.
The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit and intelligence to end users in a variety of government, homeland security and public safety vertical markets.
The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program highlighting the most cutting-edge and forward-thinking security solutions coming onto the market today, to ensure our readers have the information they need to stay ahead of the competition, and keep our Nation safe – one facility, street, and city at a time.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards at https://americansecuritytoday.com/ast-awards/.
Comprehensive List of Categories Include:
| Access Control/ Identification | Personal/Protective Equipment | Law Enforcement Counter Terrorism |
| Perimeter Barrier/ Deterrent System | Interagency Interdiction Operation | Cloud Computing/Storage Solution |
| Facial/IRIS Recognition | Body Worn Video Product | Cyber Security |
| Video Surveillance/VMS | Mobile Technology | Anti-Malware |
| Audio Analytics | Disaster Preparedness | ID Management |
| Thermal/Infrared Camera | Mass Notification System | Fire & Safety |
| Metal/Weapon Detection | Rescue Operations | Critical Infrastructure |
| License Plate Recognition | Detection Products | And Many Others! |
Don’t see a Direct Hit for your Product, Agency or Organization?
Submit your category recommendation for consideration to Michael Madsen, AST Publisher at: mmadsen@americansecuritytoday.com.
The 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program surpassed expectations with a record number of nominations received from industry leaders and government agencies, and drew over 200 attendees to the ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Banquet – an exclusive gourmet luncheon and networking opportunity which filled to capacity, before having to turn away late registrants.
The event featured an impassioned and compelling keynote address by William J. Bratton, former police commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD) twice, the Boston Police Department (BPD), and former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), as he walked attendees through 50 years of American policing history, the impacts on the communities, and the evolution of critical communication capabilities in our post 9/11 landscape.
Commissioner Bratton, one of the world’s most respected and trusted experts on risk and security issues and Executive Chairman of Teneo Risk a global advisory firm, was recognized as the ‘2019 ‘ASTORS’ Person of the Year’ for his Lifetime of Dedication and Extraordinary Leadership in Homeland Security and Public Safety.
Why the ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program?
American Security Today’s comprehensive Annual Homeland Security Awards Program is organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of physical, IT, port security, law enforcement, and first responders, in acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’
Over 200 distinguished guests representing Federal, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Firms, gathered from across North America, Europe and the Middle East to be honored among their peers in their respective fields which included:
- The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- United States Marine Corps
- The Federal Protective Service (FPS)
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
- United States Postal Inspection Service
- DHS S&T
- United States Marshals Service (USMS)
- The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police (PAPD)
- The Department of Justice (DOJ)
- The New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (NYS DHSES)
- United States Border Patrol
- AlertMedia, Ameristar Perimeter Security, Attivo Networks, Automatic Systems, Bellevue University, BriefCam, Canon U.S.A., CornellCookson, Drone Aviation, FLIR Systems, Hanwha Techwin, HID Global, IPVideo Corp., Konica Minolta Business Solutions, LenelS2, ManTech, Regroup Mass Notifications, SafeLogic, SolarWinds, Senstar, ShotSpotter, Smiths Detection, TCOM LP, Trackforce, Verint, and More!
Why American Security Today?
The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.
The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.
American Security Today is uniquely focused on the broader Homeland Security & Public Safety marketplace with over 75,000 readers at the Federal, State and local levels of government as well as firms allied to government.
American Security Today brings forward a fresh compelling look and read with our customized digital publications that hold readers eyes throughout the story with cutting edge editorial that provides solutions to their challenges.
Harness the Power of the Web – with our 100% Mobile Friendly Publications
The AST Digital Publications is distributed to over 75,000 qualified government and homeland security professionals in federal, state and local levels.
‘PROTECTING OUR NATION, ONE CITY AT A TIME’
AST Reaches both Private & Public Experts, essential to meeting these new challenges.
Today’s new generation of public safety and security experts need real-time knowledge to deal with domestic and international terrorism, lone wolf attacks, unprecedented urban violence, shifts in society, culture and media bias – making it increasingly difficult for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Military and Private Security Professionals to implement coordinated security measures to ensure national security and improve public safety.
These experts are from Government at the federal, state and local level as well as from private firms allied to government.
AST provides a full plate of topics in our AST Monthly Magazine Editions, AST Website and AST Daily News Alerts, covering 23 Vital Sectors such as Access Control, Perimeter Protection, Video Surveillance/Analytics, Airport Security, Border Security, CBRNE Detection, Border Security, Ports, Cybersecurity, Networking Security, Encryption, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Campus Security, Security Services, Corporate Facilities, and Emergency Response among others.
AST has Expanded readership into integral Critical Infrastructure audiences such as Protection of Nuclear Facilities, Water Plants & Dams, Bridges & Tunnels, and other potential targets of terrorism.
Other areas of concern include Transportation Hubs, Public Assemblies, Government Facilities, Sporting & Concert Stadiums, our Nation’s Schools & Universities, and Commercial Business Destinations – all enticing targets due to the large number of persons and resources clustered together.
To learn more about the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Award Winners solutions, please go to the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Championship Edition Fully Interactive Magazine – the Best Products of 2019 ‘A Year in Review’.
The ‘ASTORS’ Champion Edition is published annually and includes a review of the ‘ASTORS’ Award Winning products and programs, highlighting key details on many of the winning firms products and services, includes video interviews and more.
It is your Go-To source throughout the year for ‘The Best of 2019 Products and Services‘ endorsed by American Security Today, and can satisfy your agency’s and organization’s most pressing Homeland Security and Public Safety needs.
From Physical Security (Access Control, Critical Infrastructure, Perimeter Protection and Video Surveillance Cameras and Video Management Systems), to IT Security (Cybersecurity, Encryption, Data Storage, Anti-Malware and Networking Security – Just to name a few), the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ CHAMPIONS EDITION will have what you need to Detect, Delay, Respond to, and Mitgate today’s real-time threats in our constantly evolving security landscape.
It also includes featured guest editorial pieces from some of the security industry’s most respected leaders, and recognized firms in the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program.
For information about advertising opportunities with American Security Today, please contact Michael Madsen, AST Publisher at mmadsen@americansecuritytoday.com.
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- Provides named sources
- Reported by more than one notable outlet
- Includes supporting video, direct statements, or photos
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