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Regional Catastrophic Planning Team Urban Areas Security Initiative Members

Joseph Esposito

Commissioner Joseph Esposito

NYC Office of Emergency Management

Commissioner Esposito has been dedicated to public service since 1968. Prior to joining OEM, he spent over 40 years serving New York City's Police Department (NYPD), and most recently served as the NYPD's Chief of Department from 2000 until his retirement from the agency in 2013. As Chief of Department, Esposito directed and controlled the daily operations of the six major enforcement bureaus within the NYPD — Patrol Services, Detectives, Transportation, Transit, Housing and Organized Crime Control. As the longest-serving chief in department history, Esposito presided over a 40 percent drop in violent crime, oversaw the agency's evolution from a traditional crime-fighting organization to one that embraced the post-9/11 anti-terror mission, and helped introduce the Toys-for-Guns program in Washington Heights. Esposito earned praise for his leadership during and after the 9/11 attacks. Esposito also oversaw the NYPD's response to Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath. Esposito holds a B.A. in criminal justice from the State University of New York.

Scott Di Giralomo

Scott Di Giralomo

Director, Morris County, NJ, Department of Law and Public Safety

Scott Di Giralomo has more than 25 years of experience in public safety and emergency response. He is the director of the Morris County Department of Law and Public Safety and oversees six county divisions including the Office of Emergency Management. As director, he also serves as the county emergency management coordinator and county fire marshal. Di Giralomo was a task force leader with the NJ State Police Urban Search and Rescue Team for six years. He has served as a planning section chief on several National Special Security Events. He chairs the Northern NJ Urban Area Working Group and is cochair of the NY and NJ Regional Catastrophic Grant Program.

Regional Catastrophic Planning Team Members

David DeMatteo

David M. DeMatteo

Branch Director, State and Local Response Planning, NY State Emergency Management Office

David M. DeMatteo is branch director for State and Local Response Planning with the NY State Emergency Management Office and is the state planning lead for the RCPT. He oversees the efforts of the State Emergency Management Office Planning Section, providing planning assistance to state and local government officials in the development of preparedness and response plans. This includes developing comprehensive emergency management plans, hazard-specific and functional annexes, and continuity of operations (COOP) planning. DeMatteo has served on several state task forces to support state-level disaster planning efforts and projects. He has been the lead emergency planner in a variety of planning efforts, including the recent revision of the State Comprehensive Emergency Management plans. Over the last five years, DeMatteo has been the lead at the state level in providing technical assistance to state agencies in the development of agency-specific COOP plans. He has developed and delivered COOP-related curricula and developed model plans for agencies to use as a guide.

Douglas Fassbender

Douglas Fassbender

Contracts Supervisor, NY State Office of Homeland Security

Doug Fassbender currently serves as the contracts supervisor for the NY State Office of Homeland Security (OHS). The OHS serves as the State Administrative Agency for all federal homeland security grant programs. Fassbender is directly responsible for the management and oversight of all homeland security grant programs for the NYC metropolitan area, which includes NYC, the Port Authority of NY/NJ, the City of Yonkers, and Suffolk, Westchester, and Nassau counties. Fassbender has been overseeing all contracts for the metropolitan area since 2003. One of his areas of expertise is dealing with multiple jurisdictions and multiple agencies while meeting both state and federal regulations and guidelines. He retired from the military after 21 years of active duty service. Fassbender has a bachelor of science in criminal justice and a master of science in public administration.

Lieutenant Kevin Fowler

Kevin Fowler

Captain, NJ State Police, Office of Emergency Management

Kevin Fowler is a 23-year veteran of the NJ State Police. He is presently the unit head of the Emergency Management Section, Emergency Preparedness Bureau, North Regional Unit. The North Regional Unit coordinates emergency management activities throughout the northern seven counties and 206 municipalities. In January 2007, Fowler was chosen to be the project manager for the Trans-Hudson Emergency Transportation Task Force, a comprehensive contingency plan to support transportation operations between NY and NJ. The plan was completed in July 2007 with cooperation from the US Coast Guard, NYC OEM, NYPD, Port Authority of NY/NJ, NJ Transit, NJ Department of Transportation, and NJ OEM. Fowler has a bachelor of science from Rutgers University and a master's in education from Seton Hall University.

Brad Mason

Brad Mason

Assistant Deputy Director—Preparedness, NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness

Brad Mason began his career at the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness in 2008. Prior to this assignment, he spent eight years in FEMA Region 2 as acting branch chief for Response Operations. During his tenure at FEMA, he was assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force for NYC and in 2004 served as a cochair for consequence management planning in preparation for the Republican National Convention. In addition, Mason has served as vice president of global crisis management for a large NYC-based financial institution and worked on the congressional staff in the US House of Representatives for five years. He is a graduate of Rutgers University.

Joe Picciano

Joseph Picciano

Deputy Director for Preparedness, NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness

After 30 years with FEMA, Joseph Picciano joined the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness in 2007 as the deputy principal federal official for the Hurricane Katrina response in the Gulf States. He was also appointed as the deputy principal federal official for the northeast US for the 2006 hurricane season. Prior to that, he served as the acting regional director for the FEMA NYC office, during which he oversaw the WTC federal recovery effort. Among his many professional distinctions, he has been a Presidential Disaster Area federal coordinating officer and participated in responses across the nation, was awarded the FEMA Director's Award for his service during 9/11, and served as principal federal official for TOPOFF3 in NJ, a major weapons of mass destruction exercise. He has a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Newark College of Engineering and a master's degree in civil engineering from NJ Institute of Technology. He was honored as a distinguished alumnus for 2002 and is a licensed professional engineer.

Ed Schneyer

Edward C. Schneyer

Director of Emergency Preparedness, Suffolk County Office of Emergency Management

Edward C. Schneyer is the director of emergency preparedness for the Suffolk County Office of Emergency Management. Schneyer has been employed by the Suffolk County Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services for 24 years, previously working in various roles, including emergency services dispatcher and fire marshal. Additionally, Schneyer is a 27-year veteran of volunteer fire and EMS departments and is a past chief. He has a degree in business administration from SUNY Farmingdale.

Jennifer Wacha

Jennifer Wacha

Director, Westchester County Office of Emergency Management

Jennifer Wacha is the director of the Westchester County Office of Emergency Management (OEM). She has been employed by Westchester for four years and currently coordinates the County's emergency management planning and preparedness programs. Prior to joining Westchester OEM, Wacha was a firefighter and hazardous materials technician with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in Virginia and an instructor at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute. Wacha has a degree from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

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