Richard F. Mulvihill serves as Director to the Center and brings more than 34 years' experience in Law Enforcement and Corrections to the Center's operations. He served as Department Head of Public Safety for Atlantic County, NJ, from 1999 until 2007 where he had complete responsibility for the operation and administration of a three hundred person public safety department which included adult detention, juvenile detention, emergency management, homeland security and police training, with a budget of over 25 million dollars. As part of his responsibilities, he developed a nine site, 55 channel county-wide 800 MHz trunked radio system. Previously, he served in local law enforcement for 25 years with half of that time served as Chief of Police of Absecon, NJ Police Department. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutgers University, Richard Stockton College, and Atlantic Cape Community College and was responsible for undergraduate and graduate level courses on communications, criminal justice, emergency management and administration.

He holds both a B.A. and M.Sc. in Criminal Justice. He is a member of the FBI National Academy Associates, a thirty year member of APCO as well as a life member of IACP and many other law enforcement and communication organizations.

Carrie E. Supko serves as the Deputy Director for the National Institute of Justice Communications Technologies Center of Excellence. Prior to joining the Center of Excellence, Ms. Supko worked with the National Institute of Justice CommTech Program where she served as the CommTech Outreach, Technology Assistance, and Pilot Program Manger. Ms. Supko has also worked with the Office of Research and Evaluation within the National District Attorney's Association as well as the US Department of Transportation. Ms. Supko's experience and areas of expertise include Criminal Justice project management; grants management; criminal justice and emergency response research, development, testing, and evaluation; implementation and management of pilot projects; public safety outreach and technology assistance; and first responder communications systems.

Peter F. Small serves as a Program Manager for the National Institute of Justice Communications Technologies Center of Excellence. Mr. Small has over twenty years of law enforcement experience, most recently serving as a Sergeant with the Syracuse (NY) Police Department. Prior to that he held numerous assignments within the Patrol, Community Policing and Planning and Research Divisions and was a member of the Emergency Response Team (ERT). Prior to his employment with the City of Syracuse, Mr. Small served as a Police Officer for the Town of Manlius (NY) Police Department.

Mr. Small has been involved with public safety communications as a dispatcher, police officer and as the commander of the Communications and Information Technology Sections of the Syracuse Police Department. He has participated in numerous public safety communications and data sharing projects, specifically Encrypted Voice Communications, Onondaga County Interoperable Communications and Onondaga County Central Records Project.

Mr. Small received his B.S. in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York, Empire State College (2007). He is a graduate of the Central New York Police Academy (1985), and holds an A.A.S. in Criminal Justice from Onondaga Community College (1983). He is also a member of the International Association of Law Enforcement Planners and International Association of Crime Analysts.

Charles Stephenson serves as the Director of Outreach and Technology Assistance for the NLECTC-Communications Technologies Center of Excellence (COE). Prior to joining the COE, Mr. Stephenson worked with the National Institute of Justice CommTech Program where he served as a senior communications specialist providing expertise in interoperable communications technologies and land mobile radio (LMR) systems.

Mr. Stephenson, a retired U.S. Army Signal Officer, is experienced in public safety communications, military communications and communications security. His experience ranges from LMR system design, troubleshooting and new equipment fielding to operating and managing tactical and strategic level communications utilizing commercial and military systems such as the Defense Red Switch Network, AUTODIN, COMSAT, MILSAT, INMARSAT and the commercial public switched networks throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Russia and the Middle East.

Mr. Stephenson received his B.S. in Management from the University of Maryland and holds an A.A.S. in Nuclear Technologies from the Community College of the Air Force, along with certifications as a communications security technician, signal systems maintenance technician, and electronic switching systems technician. He is also a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Sheriff's Association (NSA), Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) and the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Over the last 18 years, Mr. Vea has owned, operated, managed, and consulted to businesses in Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States. In these roles he worked with or for Ericsson, AirTouch, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Cingular, amongst others. Most recently, Mr. Vea was President of ClosedNetworks and Frederick G. Griffin Engineering providing telecommunications and systems consulting to state and local government.

Prior to forming ClosedNetworks, Mr. Vea was President and CEO of Detecon, Inc. the North American Division of Deutsche Telekom Consulting. In that role he and his staff provided advanced engineering and management consulting services to the Federal Government and most of the major wireless operators in North America.

Mr. Vea holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.S. in Telecommunications from Southern Methodist University.

Brian Mulvihill serves as the Assistant Program Manager for the National Institute of Justice Communications Technologies Center of Excellence. Prior to joining the Center of Excellence, Mr. Mulvihill worked at The Renault Winery and Resort in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey as a Special Events Manager/Coordinator. Mr. Mulvihill has also worked with the Philadelphia Flyers in the Communications/Public Relations Department.

He received his B.S. in Sport and Entertainment Management from the University of South Carolina (2007).

Mike Mitkus currently serves as the Senior Analyst to the NLECTC-Communications Technologies Center of Excellence.

Prior to joining Drakontas in November 2007, Mr. Mitkus was an Executive Director of three (3) nonprofit trade and professional associations, managed by Fernley & Fernley, Inc., a family-owned association management company based in Philadelphia, PA.

Mr. Mitkus received his A.B. in Classics and French in 2001 from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Mary Lou Dando serves as the Program and Administrative Assistant for the NLECTC-Communications Technologies Center of Excellence (COE). Prior to joining the COE, Ms. Dando worked for the ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) as a Program Administrative Assistant at EPA/Region III in Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Dando worked with the Senior Regional Reps and Regional Reps for four years. Ms. Dando has also worked with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in Atlanta, GA.