Dan M. Hawkins

Mr. Dan M. Hawkins is a Public Safety Technology Specialist for SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, where he provides technical assistance to public safety agencies nationwide in automated systems development, planning and integration of justice information systems, and communications interoperability.

Mr. Hawkins has 25 years of experience in the public safety field, most recently as Communications Technology Manager for the State of Montana, where he managed development of a statewide radio system. Prior to that, Mr. Hawkins served in several positions for the state, including Information Technology Operations Bureau Chief for its Department of Justice, Manager of the state's Public Safety Communications Program, and Training Officer for its Criminal Justice Information Network. He served as the FBI Information Security Officer for Montana and as adjunct faculty for both the Montana Law Enforcement Academy and Fire Services Training School. He began his public safety career as a deputy sheriff in a rural Montana county.

Mr. Hawkins is a Life Member of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) and Associate Member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). He has served in various roles within APCO over the years, including Chapter President, member of its International Executive Council, Chair of the Advisory Committee overseeing its frequency coordination subsidiary, and as a member of several task forces. He represents APCO on Project MESA, an international partnership developing digital mobile broadband standards worldwide. Mr. Hawkins also serves on IACP's Communications and Technology Committee and on the Advisory Group to the Department of Homeland Security SAFECOM Program.

As a U.S. Forest Service-trained incident command system (ICS) Communications Unit Leader, Mr. Hawkins has served during several large law enforcement operations, wildfires and disasters, including two large train derailments resulting in serious hazmat incidents. He worked as a lead Geographic Information Systems specialist in Colorado during the 2002 wildfire season.

Mr. Hawkins holds a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Montana State University and has completed advanced management programs with the State of Montana and IBM's Advanced Business Institute. He has held basic and intermediate Peace Officer Standards and Training certificates, as well as several other certifications from the Montana Law Enforcement Academy.