NEW ORLEANS – The City of New Orleans announced the transition of Lt. Col. Jerry Sneed USMC (Ret.) from his role as Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Director of the City of New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (NOHSEP) to advisor for the Orleans Parish Communications District (OPCD).
Effective Friday, April 24, 2015, Lt. Col. Sneed will begin working to better align the City’s first responder agencies with 9-1-1 emergency services. He will remain a City employee.
The City intends to fill the position of Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Director of NOHSEP. Upon Lt. Col. Sneed’s transition, Deputy Director of NOHSEP Aaron Miller will serve as Interim Director for that office as a search for a permanent replacement is conducted.
“In his capacity as Deputy Mayor of Public Safety for the last five years, Lt. Col. Jerry Sneed performed an exemplary job coordinating the City’s public safety departments, including NOPD, NOFD, EMS and Emergency Management.” Mayor Landrieu said. “Through his steadfast leadership, the City of New Orleans raised the bar for providing coordinated safety and security for our residents and visitors by limiting duplicative efforts and maximizing effectiveness of all facets of the system. During his service, he helped direct unprecedented public safety challenges like Hurricanes Gustav and Isaac, Tropical Storm Lee, 2013 Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, and far too many major events and festivals to count. A consummate professional with decades of experience, I know that he is the right man to work with the Orleans Parish Communications District to enhance this critical public safety system and better align it with our first responder agencies.”
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve as the Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Director of the City of New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness,” Lt. Col. Jerry Sneed said. “I look forward to continuing to serve with the men and women of NOPD, NOFD, and EMS as we seek to improve 9-1-1 services.”
Lt. Col. Sneed’s Distinguished Career of Service
Lt. Col. Sneed officially retired from the United States Marine Corps on September 1, 2005, (only days after Hurricane Katrina) after serving a total of 32 years of military service in both the enlisted and officer ranks. During this long career he served in numerous and varied assignments to include commanding four different Marine units for a total of over 6 ½ years of command time (to include the Commanding Officer of Marine Security Forces, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba), 6 years of senior staff assignments, 5 years of various instructor duties, 4½ years of overseas assignments, and participated in 2 combat tours of duty. His last major assignment prior to retirement was January to October 2004, with the 3rd Civil Affairs Group in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. This unit had the tasking to rebuild the total infrastructure of this devastated nation and during this tour he participated in the first battle of Fallujah.
Lt. Col. Sneed’s personal military decorations include the Bronze Star, 5 Meritorious Service Medals, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, Lt. Col. Sneed contacted the Homeland Security Director for the City of New Orleans and volunteered his services and was given the assignment of developing and conducting the “Look and Leave” program for the Lower Ninth Ward. After 2 months of volunteer work for the City of New Orleans, Lt. Col. Sneed was brought on payroll in the City of New Orleans Office of Homeland Security as a planner and helped develop the City Assisted Evacuation Plan (CAEP) with the objective of evacuating 30,000 citizens that needed the most assistance in evacuating the city. As the Director of the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness he oversaw the evacuation of New Orleans during Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
Upon taking office in May 2010, Mayor Landrieu appointed Lt. Col. Sneed as Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and the Director for the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. For the last five years, he oversaw the operations of New Orleans Police Department, New Orleans Fire Department, New Orleans EMS, Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness, Youth Study Center, the Equipment Maintenance Division, Mosquito Control, and coordinated with the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office.
As Deputy Mayor of Public Safety, Lt. Col. Sneed was instrumental in increasing coordination across all public safety agencies, including interoperability and modernization of equipment upgrades and fleet management. He oversaw the development of the City’s state-of-the-art City Emergency Operations Center, including technology integration which has enabled local, state and federal partners with enhanced situational awareness when preparing for events with increased public safety significance and responding to all hazardous incidents. In addition, Lt. Col. Sneed managed the research, development and implementation of the City’s first Comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan and integration of other citywide plans and processes into the “all-hazards resiliency framework.” To better manage public events, Lt. Col. Sneed instituted a comprehensive public safety process within the city that brought together agencies in planning and staffing, maximizing resources and leveraging existing partnerships in new ways. He also worked with local non-profit Evacuteer.org and the New Orleans Arts Council to install 17 iconic stainless steel sculptures designated as CAEP pick-up points called Evacuspots, where citizens without their own transportation would report in the event the City calls for a mandatory evacuation.
Improving 9-1-1 Emergency Services
The Orleans Parish Communications District (OPCD) is the administrative office of 9-1-1 emergency services for the City of New Orleans. Currently at the 9-1-1 operations center, NOPD, NOFD, and EMS each operate their own emergency communications centers for the respective dispatch of agency personnel. While all three agencies operate from the same facility, each agency’s 9-1-1 operations are run independently from the other agencies. As a result, all 9-1-1 calls within Orleans Parish are initially routed to NOPD Communications. Calls determined to require assistance from NOPD, NOFD, or EMS are transferred to the appropriate agency for dispatching.
In an effort to improve service to residents, Lt. Col. Sneed will advise on the consolidation of all emergency communications into a single operation. Consolidation will remove duplicative service, streamline operations, increase efficiencies and enhance service.
NOHSEP Interim Director Aaron Miller
Upon Lt. Col. Sneed’s transition, Deputy Director of NOHSEP Aaron Miller will serve as Interim Director for that office as a search for a permanent replacement is conducted. As Deputy Director of NOHSEP, Aaron Miller has overseen daily operations of the office, maintained Emergency Operations Center readiness, and implemented the strategic and tactical objectives outlined by the Deputy Mayor of Public Safety in regards to planning, finance, and operations. Miller has served as Deputy Director of NOHSEP since June 2013.
Prior to this, Miller served as a Clinical Researcher and Research Specialist for New Orleans EMS, where he also worked as a special event liaison, liaison to the Emergency Operations Center, and as the Emergency Management Specialist for Tulane University. After completing his Master’s in Public Health, Miller was a Mayoral Fellow, serving as a policy advisor and intern at the City of New Orleans for the Health Department and New Orleans Emergency Medical Services. He is currently completing his dissertation research for a PhD in Public Health from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in the Department of Global Behavioral and Community Health Sciences.
