Steve Peterson is the Virtual Emergency Response Team Lead of the Montgomery County, Maryland Community Emergency Response Team and its past President. His professional specialization has focused on emergency communications policy development in both the public and private sectors. He is a member of the White House National Science and Technology Council, Subcommittee on Resilience Science and Technology Task Team 4. Steve served as the Co-Chair of the Department of Homeland Security’ s Social Media Working Group for Emergency Services and Disaster Management. He was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM) World Conference where he shared experiences and insights into addressing data analysis complexities during disasters. At the 2020 ISCRAM World Conference, Steve and co-authors were awarded Best Paper for their work pertaining to rapid damage assessment using social media images. Steve received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Studies from the University of Maryland and received the Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) designation from the International Association of Emergency Managers.

Constable Laurie McCann is an active Law Enforcement officer in a large metropolitan city for the past 23 years. She has been actively involved with Social Media for 11 years now. She has spoken nationally and internationally on Social Media, Cyberbullying, apps and internet safety. Laurie has spoken to students, parents and other police agencies regarding Social Media and the effects of Cyberbullying, Sexting, and safe Internet use.

MPO Tommy Thompson has been a law enforcement officer for 22 years, serving with both the NYPD and the Fairfax County Police Department. Of these 22 years, 19 were spent proudly serving as a patrol officer at several different commands. In late May of 2020, his hobby of amateur filmmaking and photography lead to an invitation to join the Fairfax County Police Department’s Public Affairs Bureau. In this capacity his creativeness, coupled with his skills in videography, photography, video editing and social media have proved highly useful in communication efforts both within the police department and with the community.

Detective Ray McCoy has been in law enforcement for over 27 years. He is currently assigned to the Missing Persons Squad. His primary responsibilities include overseeing the Electronic Scent Detection Canine Program and conducting Missing Person Investigations. Detective McCoy is also a Task Force Officer for the Virginia State Police NOVA/DC Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Detective McCoy’s partner, K9 Browser, is a Labrador Retriever and is four years old.

The 34-year veteran police officer took over the duties of Public Information Officer in 2014 after he mistakenly walked into the Sergeant’s Exam after he was tricked into believing it was a birthday party and that cake was being served. Updating Facebook was part of the deal.

Cotton started out his post-teen years as a disc jockey, then news director at Bangor’s Stephen King owned WZON radio after attending the New England School of Communications in the 80’s. He made the decision to become a police officer mainly because the hours seemed better and he hated trying to figure what to wear each day.

He took over the Department’s Facebook page in the spring of 2014 with a following of 9,000. The page now has reached 330,000 followers and has been featured on Mike Rowe’s “The Way I Heard It” podcasts on several occasions, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, People Magazine, National Public Radio, American Police Beat magazine, numerous blog posts, and many television and radio programs. Many social media professionals still call him to tell him he is doing it all wrong. He listens, because people feel better when they can vent.

The Marginally World Famous Bangor Police Department Duck of Justice—now in the police department museum—has drawn visitors to the lobby of the Bangor Police Department from all over America and twenty-seven other countries. Public Acceptance is a byproduct of successfully presented social media content.

Cotton was promoted to Lieutenant in 2017 and took over the duties as the commander of the criminal investigation division. He later transferred to the Services Division, but still handled all Facebook duties because no one else wanted to do it. He retired this past summer because it was time. He still handles the Bangor Police Department Facebook page because no one else wants to do it.

Morgan Butler is a social media expert, photographer, videographer, and creative director, currently serving as the Engagement and Outreach Manager for Public Policy at Twitter. Prior to Twitter, she spent four and a half years as a digital and creative director in Congress managing members’ social media channels and creating content. When she’s not hard at work, Morgan fuels her love of sports by working as an in-house television director at the Capital One Arena for Washington Wizards, and Georgetown Hoyas. She also serves as an adjunct instructor at San Francisco Film School, teaching digital media production and management. Morgan holds a Master of Communications degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication from Grambling State University. When she’s not working, Morgan enjoys watching horror movies, exploring the great outdoors, and spending time with her family and four pets.

Howard Ludwig has spent his professional career telling compelling stories. He does that now by working with reporters throughout the Washington DC region as the Assistant Director of the Public Affairs Bureau for the Fairfax County Police Department. Howard works directly with various media members on breaking news as well as in-depth think pieces. He is also responsible for collaborating with FCPD Command Staff to craft internal messaging and branding for Virginia’s largest police department. Prior to arriving in Fairfax, Howard served the Chicago Police Department as the Public Information Coordinator. He was the voice of three superintendents in Chicago, serving as a speech writer and crafting all executive-level communication. Howard worked as a newspaper reporter for 20 years prior to making the shift to public relations. His byline has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Southtown and numerous other publications.

Dr. Beidi Dong is an Associate Professor of Criminology, Law and Society and a Senior Fellow of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University. He received his PhD from the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law at the University of Florida and completed post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on developing evidence-based strategies to prevent and mitigate the negative impacts of violence and addressing health risks resulting from crime/violence and punishment. He employs various quantitative and computational social science methods to enhance public safety and health.

Effectively navigating the complexities of a crisis is part of the daily routine for public safety communication professionals. Law enforcement agencies have a wealth of experience managing crises, but have recently found themselves thrust into the national spotlight for a series of high profile national incidents that have called for major reform across the industry. Community skepticism has provided opportunities for law enforcement leaders to bolster community bonds, leverage relationships to reduce crime and impact future generations to serve in this honorable profession, but has also highlighted the necessity of having an effective communications staff.

As a member of the Metropolitan Police Department’s (Washington, DC) Executive Staff, Dustin Sternbeck heads the Office of Communications for the primary law enforcement agency in our nation’s capital. He has spent over 15 years providing leadership and expertise in all phases of communication and outreach for public safety agencies. His team of sworn and civilian staff at MPD represent over 4,500 members, and routinely handle high profile events that have national implications.