Baker, Chris

Title: Senior Public Safety Advisor

Company: First Responder Network Authority

Chris Baker is a Senior Public Safety Advisor assigned to the Northern California area for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority). He also serves as a subject matter expert for fire and aviation. Before joining the FirstNet Authority, Chris served 33 years as a first responder. He retired as a battalion chief and investigator with the Roseville (CA) Fire Department. His assignments there included operations, investigations, administration, technology, homeland security, and safety. He led various public safety technology projects and held operational and communications roles on large incidents and incident management teams. Chris also served as per diem deputy sheriff and, prior to a full-time career in the fire service, worked as an engineer in the wireless industry constructing and operating cellular networks across the U.S., training engineers, and developing wireless testing tools. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical and electronic engineering and Juris Doctor. He is a registered Professional Engineer and member of the State Bar in California, and currently volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol as a pilot and as a firefighter and paramedic in Plumas County, CA.

Dowd, Charles

Title: Asst. Chief (Ret.)

Company: New York City Police Department

Charles F Dowd spent 34 years as a member of the New York City Police Department. As an Assistant Chief he commanded the Offce of Information Technology which included the NYPD's Information Technology Group with 350 members and the Communications Division consisting of more than 1,500 members. He was responsible for the City's 9-1-1 operation; the nation's busiest receiving over 12 million calls per year and the N.Y.P.D. police radio operation dispatching 4.5 million radio runs annually. The N.Y.P.D. land mobile radio network has 300 sites, with over 67 voice frequencies, 1,200 receivers, 150 transmitters, and 40,000 radios. He was the police department's lead representative on several major projects in the City of New York including a new digital recording system for 9-1-1. This system was used to run a successful pilot project for domestic violence cases to deliver 9-1-1 emergency calls electronically to prosecutors as evidence for initial court appearances. He was also the Department's lead on NYC's 3-1-1 citizen services initiative, and was instrumental in integrating the 3-1-1 system with the City's 9-1-1 system. He was tasked with the responsibility of establishing the communications plan for public safety/interoperability for the 2003 Republican National Convention held in New York City. He was the NYPD's lead on the initiative to merge police, fire, emergency medical communications, and 9-1-1 services into one consolidated Public Safety Answering Center, a 2 billion dollar project. He was the City's representative on the Public Safety Alliance, the organization that led the unprecedented effort that secured radio spectrum and funding to establish a nationwide broadband public safety network.

In August of 2012 he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) by Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank. FirstNet is responsible for the build out of the nationwide first responder's wireless interoperable broadband network. He is the former commanding offcer of several commands, including the 88th and 77th Precincts, and as a detective lieutenant the 79th Detective Squad, where he supervised over 300 homicide investigations.
Chief Dowd was in command at the New York City 911 center on September 11, 2001, coordinating the N.Y.P.D.'s communications response. Since the horrific events of that day, he has been the keynote speaker at numerous public safety communications conferences, as well as several government communications seminars. He has testified on several occasions before the F.C.C. and the U.S. Congress on both new-technology 911 V.O.I.P. call delivery first implemented successfully on a large scale in N.Y.C. and the need for a nationwide public safety broadband system. He has had articles published in several Public Safety and I.T. publications. He has a baccalaureate degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. His wife Madeline is a retired New York City Detective and he has three children, Katie, Rob, Garrett, son-in-law Craig and grandkids Connor and Sadie.

Harder, Doug

Title: Senior Public Safety Advisor

Company: First Responder Network Authority

Doug Harder currently leads the First Responder Network Authority's (FirstNet Authority) efforts in pre-planned event/Incident planning and broadband in exercises support. He also works closely with the AT&T Response Operations Group to support events and incidents with deployable assets. When Doug joined the FirstNet Authority in June 2014, he worked on the State Plans team developing the State Plan template for the request for proposal. Prior to joining the FirstNet Authority, Doug spent 10 years as a task lead and subject matter expert on the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program. He brings significant experience engaging with the states and territories to determine their requirements and develop plans to accomplish those needs.

Hull, Travis

Title: Domain Lead, User Experience

Company: First Responder Network Authority

Johnson, Lance

Title: VP of Spectrum Strategy and Government Affairs

Company: Anterix, Inc.

McEwen, Harlin

Title: Chief of Police (Ret.)

Company: Ithaca, New York, Police Department

Chief McEwen has more than 60 years of experience as a career law enforcement officer and administrator as well as an advocate for improving public safety communications. He served as a Chief of Police for more than 20 years, last serving as Chief in the City of Ithaca, NY. Following his retirement as Ithaca Police Chief he served as a Deputy Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with his office located at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. He served as the Chairman of the Communications & Technology Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) for more than 35 years. He represented the IACP on numerous national committees including the Governing Board of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council. He is a Life Member and Honorary President of the IACP, Life Member of the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA), Life Member of the Radio Club of America (RCA), and Life Member of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO). He is the recipient of many awards including the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) Richard DeMello Award. He also served as the first Chairman of the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).