Darrell L. Darnell

Director

District of Columbia's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency

Darrell L. Darnell has been appointed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to serve as director of the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA). In that capacity he is responsible for carrying out the agency’s mission to reduce the loss of life and property and protect citizens and institutions from all hazards by operating and maintaining a comprehensive all-hazard community-based, state-of-the-art emergency management infrastructure, including coordination and management of the District’s response to emergencies and disasters of all kinds, both natural and man-made.

Mr. Darnell joined HSEMA after serving as director of the Urban Areas and Exercise Program at IEM, a Louisiana-based national disaster and homeland security consulting company. In that role he managed IEM projects that helped urban areas and large cities improve efforts to prevent, respond to and recover from terrorism and other disasters. He also was responsible for IEM’s homeland security exercise projects for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies, as well as state and local homeland security and emergency management agencies nationwide.

Prior to joining IEM, Mr. Darnell spent eight years in the federal government, first at the US Department of Justice and then at DHS. At DHS he served as director of the Preparedness Division for the DHS Headquarters Operational Integration Staff (I-STAFF) where he oversaw DHS and interagency operational planning and execution of national exercise, evaluation and preparedness assessment programs. He also worked with the Office for State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (OSLGCP) in the planning and implementation of National Preparedness programs in partnership with state and local governments throughout the nation.

Prior to his assignment to the I-STAFF, Mr. Darnell served as the Local Programs Division Director within the State and Local Program Management Division at OSLGCP, where he oversaw the development and implementation of anti-terrorism and counter-terrorism preparedness programs within the nation’s local urban areas. Mr. Darnell was also a lead training program specialist with OSLGCP, where he helped state and local emergency responders and public safety officials develop training and technical assistance programs to address Weapons of Mass Destruction response planning and emergency preparedness.

Prior to his assignment to the OSLGCP he was a special assistant to the director in the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and a grant monitoring specialist, both at the Department of Justice.

Mr. Darnell has served as an adjunct professor in the School of Business and Management at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland, and at the University of Maryland, University College-Asian Division.

Prior to beginning his career with the Department of Justice in 1997, he served honorably as a member of the United States Air Force (USAF), retiring November 1, 1997.

Mr. Darnell was a 2006 senior fellow at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute and a Founders Award recipient from the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security for his role in the development of the first Master of Arts degree program in Homeland Security and Defense, offered by the Naval Postgraduate School on behalf of DHS.