Public Safety Signals

Public safety practitioners add voice to blog

2008 Sep 3 Posted by Charles

I would like to welcome several public safety practitioner learners as they join as new authors of Public Safety Signals. These practitioners represent the first set of learners to join as authors on the blog. Melissa Beasley is a Police Captain from the Florence, AL Police Department, Darryl Jones Chief of the Pittsburg Bureau of Fire, Lisa Bjergaard who is the Director of Juvenile Services in North Dakota, Mark Warnick who is a retired Assistant Fire Chief and Mark Rubin who holds peace officer certification in Texas.

Melissa Beasley is a police captain with the Florence Alabama Police Department. She has been in law enforcement for 15 years and has served as commander of day shift patrol, traffic services, the services division, criminal investigation and internal affairs. She has also been a Community Mental Health Officer for Lauderdale County, Al., for the last 11 years. Melissa has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of North Alabama, and a master’s degree from Auburn University in Montgomery, Al. She is currently a PhD student with Capella University in the public safety program with a specialization in criminal justice.

Darryl Jones is a veteran of the United States Marine Corp, and has been in the fire service for 23 years. Darryl started as a volunteer fire fighter in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, and was hired full time in 1987. He was promoted to chief of the Aliquippa Fire Department in 1995. In 2007, he was named chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire. Darryl obtained a bachelor of arts in business management from Carlow College in Pittsburgh in 1991, and a master’s degree in public management from Carnegie Mellon University in 1994. Darryl is also a 2008 graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Currently, Darryl is pursuing a PhD in public safety at Capella University with an emergency management specialization.

Lisa Bjergaard is the director of the Division of Juvenile Services (DJS) in North Dakota. DJS is a division of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and is North Dakota’s juvenile corrections entity. Lisa administers the youth community corrections as well as the secure facility. She has worked in youth corrections since 1989, and prior to that worked in the private sector providing behavioral treatment to delinquent youth at the group-residential and group-shelter-care level. She has served on a number of private and public boards, and has also served at the appointment of the North Dakota Attorney General on the Sex Offender Risk Assignment Committee. Lisa provides training at the North Dakota Law Enforcement Academy for freshman highway patrol, as well as for the Department of Corrections relative to the youth corrections system in North Dakota. Lisa is currently a master’s degree student in the public safety program at Capella University with a criminal justice specialization.

Mark S. Warnick has a longstanding and very public career in public safety. He has been honored with numerous awards, such as the National Forestry Hero (2004), the American Red Cross Everyday Hero (2002), and a Lifetime Achievement Award (2005). He has helped write federal legislation to assist fire, EMS, and emergency management, and he has been called the “Nations expert on rural fire departments” by several Congressmen. He served as a consultant for the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse Program (DHS/HDER). Mark has a varied educational background, learning from institutions such as the Emergency Management Institute, the National Fire Academy, The University of Missouri, and most recently Capella University. He has been an educator in firefighting and emergency management since 1990, and has more than 100 certifications in firefighting, EMS, and emergency management.

Mark Rubin began his career as a civil and criminal investigator with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for the State of Texas. During his tenure with the OAG, he was responsible for investigating white collar crimes and high profile cases, as well as criminal non-support and Medicaid and welfare fraud. Mark has held positions with several local police departments and served as a consultant to the Department of Homeland Security during its initiation. He currently serves as a reserve deputy with the Montgomery County Constable’s Office in The Woodlands, Texas. Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Houston, and a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in measurement and evaluation from Western Governor’s University. He is currently a doctoral candidate at Capella University in the field of criminal justice.

I look forward to reading about their thoughts and perspectives on public safety issues and why they matter. I know that there are plenty of other practitioners out there who would be interested in joining as authors as well. If you are interested please drop me an email and let me know. We’ll be making opportunities available in the near future. Until then please join us here in our discussions.
Thanks
Charles

September 3, 2008 | Filed under: Capella, Capella University, Charles Tiffin, Law enforcement, Public Safety Signals, Public safety, crime, disaster, education, homeland security, online college, online degrees, online university, police
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