Posts

Public Sector Liaison Committee Aims to Increase Engagement

CSAA’s Public Sector Liaison Committee (PSLC) “manages strategy for dealing with public sector/first responders, law enforcement, police, sheriffs, fire community, fire chiefs, and state fire marshals,” said Graham Westphal, Co-President of Bay Alarm Company and chair of the committee. “It’s important that we keep these responders informed of our technology and tools that benefit them. The committee also engages with the NRTLs, and coordinates with SIAC to complement its activities.”

The committee is in the process of launching several new engagement initiatives. “We are very fortunate that recently Shane Clary has volunteered to chair the subcommittee in fire matters and that Jon Sargent has assumed a similar role for burglary,” said Westphal.

Shane Clary headshotShane M. Clary, Ph.D., Vice President, Codes and Standards Compliance at Bay Alarm Company, has been in the alarm industry since 1974, with Bay Alarm Company since 1984, and a member of NFPA 72 since 1993.  He is a past president of the California Automatic Fire Alarm Association, a past chairman of the Automatic Fire Alarm Association and is currently the Co-Chair of the AFAA Codes and Standards Committee.

 

Jon Sargent, Corporate Industry Relations/Government Affairs Jon Sargent headshotManager at Tyco Integrated Security, has 43 years in the security industry. A Past President of the California Alarm Association, he is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriff’s Association, and the North American False Alarm Reduction Association, among others. He is currently the Secretary of ESA and the Industry/Law Enforcement Liaison for SIAC.

 

For more information, contact membership@csaaintl.org.

 

 

Richmond, VA’s Bill Hobgood is Recipient of Inaugural CSAA Public Sector Award

Public Safety Project Manager Recognized for Tireless Work on Behalf of the ASAP® Program

Bill Hobgood, Project Manager, Public Safety Team in the Department of Information Technology for the City of Richmond, Virginia, is the recipient of CSAA’s inaugural Public Sector Award. This special honor is given by CSAA in recognition of a public sector individual’s contribution to the alarm industry.

“Over the past several years, Bill has worked tirelessly to promote and implement ASAP®, a program that increases the efficiency and reliability of emergency electronic signals from central station alarm companies to Public Service Answering Points (PSAPs),” said CSAA President Pamela J. Petrow. “Bill is the ideal recipient of this inaugural award–he has been an indefatigable advocate for the ASAP program, which benefits both the private and public sector.”

Bill Hobgood

Bill Hobgood

“I am deeply honored to receive CSAA’s Inaugural Public Sector Award,” said Hobgood. “Having personally developed the first ASAP to Computer-Aided Dispatch interface for York County, VA and the City of Richmond, VA that was launched in 2006 as a two-and-a-half year pilot, I realized from day one that the ASAP program would become the win-win that it has for public safety and the alarm industry with the primary beneficiary being the community that we serve. The ASAP program has a proven track record of successes across the United States made possible due to faster responses by public safety responders.”

Hobgood was nominated for the award by Vector Security and by CSAA Past President Louis T. Fiore. “This award is so well-deserved!” said Fiore. “Bill has done a great deal for CSAA, ASAP and the industry as a whole, and I congratulate him on this recognition.”

ASAP was launched in 2011 as an initiative by the alarm industry in a cooperative effort between the Association of Public Communications Officials (APCO) and CSAA. With ASAP, critical life safety signals and accurate information is processed in seconds, not minutes, through the Nlets system of state-to-state PSAP communication, insuring that critical time is not lost, and that complete and accurate information is transmitted to the PSAP every time. The ASAP program also helps reduce false alarms, and may save the PSAPs and emergency services potentially millions of dollars.

“ASAP is a critical initiative that will improve public safety,” said Petrow, “and it is being implemented all around the country thanks to Bill.”

Hobgood will be presented with the award at the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) Public Sector luncheon on Wednesday, June 24, at the Baltimore Convention Center. For more information, contact Elizabeth Lasko at CSAA, 703-242-4670 or ewlasko@csaaintl.org.ASAP-Concept1D