Kayla Gneck-Smith - Public Information Officer - Tempe Police Department (AZ)

Kayla has been with the Tempe Police Department since August 2016. Prior to my police years, I worked in the hospital, specifically the ER, for ten years on the administration side before making the change to policing. Most of my police career has been in patrol. I have held many ancillary duties from the Mounted Unit, SVU liaison, Intelligence, PIO (before full-time), Crisis intervention, and more. I work full-time in the PIO office, the Office of the Chief.
 

Kayla has a Bachelor of Science in Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Kayla continues her training and education in crisis communication, WMD operations, Incident command, NIMS, active shooter, and anything and everything that assists with emergency operations and the overall community resiliency after a major crisis incident.

 
Kayla is currently co-chaired on Securing the Cities with the Maricopa Department of Emergency Management, which focuses on preventing an adversary's successful possession, movement, and deployment of nuclear or radiological weapons and component materials. Here, Kayla concentrates explicitly on the public information sector and crisis communication. Kayla works with PIOs across the county, and our goal is to have pre-establish commutations for radiological and nuclear incidents, both large and small, giving PIOs tools and resources to take the “fear” out of radiation communication but also to feel comfortable providing these types of communications to the community.

 
Kayla takes one day at a time as she never knows where each will take her. Kayla has goals for bridging the gap with crisis communication, public safety, emergency management, and overall community resiliency.