Latest / The Wilmac Wire / Dru Clarke | From Call Taker to Assistant Director, Culture in 911, & Building with Fairfax
Transcript
- Emily McNulty: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, welcome or welcome back to the Will MacWire. Thank you so much for tuning in. Today's guest is someone that we've had the pleasure of spending time with in person at conferences this summer. And every time that I get the chance to talk to him, I just feel like I walk away with something new to think about. I would say he's one of the more or most refreshing voices. we've come across in the public safety space. Today, you can expect to hear from Drew Clark, Assistant Director of Operations at Fairfax County's 911 Center, one of the largest in Virginia and founder of Change Talk, a leadership training firm serving public safety professionals nationwide. We covered a ton of ground in today's conversation. We hit on Drew's career journey, his philosophy on culture and people first leadership in 911. We discussed the staffing crisis and how Fairfax is looked at as a more innovative center and how they're thinking about AI adoption. And we even had a conversation about what makes an industry partnership actually work, including a bit of our own story with Fairfax and WillMac continuity WFM. Thank you so much to Drew for joining us on the podcast and to the Fairfax team for believing in us and choosing to work with us. are so grateful. for our partnership. Let's get into today's episode of the Will Mac Choir with Drew Clark. All right, we'll get things started with introducing our guests. So he started as a call taker at Fairfax County in 2013 and he worked his way up through every level of the center. He's now the assistant director of operations at Virginia's largest 911 center, leading a team of 200 telecommunicators. He launched Change Talk in 2020, which is a leadership training firm serving public safety professionals nationwide. He's known for his philosophy of people before policy and culture before strategy. He's a John Hopkins grad and regular keynote speaker at public safety conferences. Welcome to the Will MacWire, Drew Clark. Drew, thanks for joining us. Dru Clarke: Thanks for having me. I'm so excited for this. Emily McNulty: Yeah, I was about to say I I always tell Steve, I feel like I need like dim the lights and like get a fog machine behind me when I when I do the Stephen McDonnell: for the intros. Emily McNulty: intros, like have you breakthrough something. I don't know. Dru Clarke: my gosh. Emily McNulty: all right, Drew, we're we're so excited to to be chatting with you today. we're gonna get things started with an icebreaker. We call this or that. We do it with all our guests just to dip their toes in the water a little bit and get get the conversation flowing. So I have three for you and then I saved one from Chad. So that one's his specific. I'll save that one for the end. yeah Chad bonus. Dru Clarke: Chad bonus. Let's do it. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Emily McNulty: So the first one is just weather related. Virginia summers or Virginia Winters. Which one do you prefer? Dru Clarke: Virginia winner. Yeah. Exactly. It was atrocious. Winter at least you can layer Emily McNulty: Yeah. We were just talking about the heat of San Antonio. So yeah. It's a true. Stephen McDonnell: That was quick. Yeah. Dru Clarke: up, you know? Emily McNulty: Yes. Yes. I agree. I'd rather it be cold. I'd rather be cold than hot. Stephen McDonnell: I'm with you. 100%. Emily McNulty: Wonderful. Okay. Next one. Speaking on stage or walking like the conference floor. Dru Clarke: Ooh. Speaking on stage. Emily McNulty: Neither. Yeah. So we were just chatting with Jeremy about the same thing, but when did you kind of get into speaking? Dru Clarke: It was twenty eighteen I got into so Emily McNulty: Okay. Dru Clarke: I I went to my first conference twenty seventeen. I was so inspired and I was like, twenty eighteen, I'm just gonna apply everywhere. And that's kind of what I Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: did. And I got so many rejections because who's this random guy that's like Emily McNulty: Who's this random guy? Dru Clarke: But I had a few a few s conferences that actually accepted me, Virginia Spring Conference being one of them. And then Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: like five years later, I actually got to keynote. The very first conference that I went to. So it was like a full circle moment. Emily McNulty: Yeah. that's wonderful. Stephen McDonnell: How out of curiosity, as we've been going to a lot more events and speaking, did it come natural to you or have you worked on it? I mean, public speaking and being in front of a lot of people. Dru Clarke: Public speaking come natural? No. No, I was super nervous. like and I'm not talking about like just regular like jitters. I'm talking about like flaw and panic attacks. Like like I'd be in the parking lot, like pacing, and like my heart would flutter, my throat would close, but I loved it. So I would just practice all the time and people make fun of me, even to this day. Like before I go on to speak, you'll probably see me like behind a building or something, just like listening to myself because Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: that's how I learn. so I record everything that I do and I just put it in my headphones and I just pace and that kind of just keeps me like keeps me steady. Stephen McDonnell: So that's how you practice it. You'll record what you want and then just keep listening to it over and over. That's good. Dru Clarke: Yeah, only the intro though. I don't have time. Only the intro Emily McNulty: The intro just to get you started. Then you're rolling. Dru Clarke: Exactly. Emily McNulty: Yeah. I love it. Okay. And next one is first day is a call taker or first day as the assistant director. Dru Clarke: you can't ask me that one. You can't Stephen McDonnell: Hahaha Dru Clarke: ask me that one. I would have to say assistant director. I would Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: have to say assistant director. Call taker was like, it's scary. It's like you don't know what to Emily McNulty: Yeah, I can imagine. Stephen McDonnell: Sure. Dru Clarke: expect, you know, you don't know if anyone's gonna accept you, how they feel. You don't even know if like the job is right for you at that point. You're kinda like, mm, I'm just gonna see Emily McNulty: Right. Dru Clarke: it, see if it feels right. But by the time Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: I got to assistant director, I was like, These are my people and what an honor Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Emily McNulty: Yep. Dru Clarke: this is, you know. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Okay. And last one. so he had classic animated Disney or modern CGI Pixar Disney as you're this Dru Clarke: Classic animated. Emily McNulty: or that. Dru Clarke: Classic animated. Yeah. I saw Lion Emily McNulty: Classic animated. Okay. Dru Clarke: King on Broadway two years ago. Life changing. Have you seen it? Life changing. Yeah. Emily McNulty: Mm. Yeah. No. Steve has Stephen McDonnell: I have seen it. It was phenomenal. I probably saw it 10 years ago. was longer maybe. Yeah, 10, 15 years ago. It was great. Dru Clarke: Yeah. So good. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Okay, that's fair. So Chad, good question, I guess. Thanks, Chad. Dru Clarke: You did a decent job, Chad. Emily McNulty: You did a decent job. Okay. All right. Wonderful. Well, thanks for humoring us, Drew. And doing our this or that icebreaker. Pretty, pretty easy. I know the one you didn't want to choose, but I appreciate you you humoring us. Dru Clarke: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: Thank Emily McNulty: all right, we're gonna just start right in your career journey, Drew. And you like we talked about in your intro, you started as a call taker at Fairfax in 2013. Like what brought you into the 911 space? Dru Clarke: Little known fact, I went to school for neuroscience. So I know you gave my Johns Hopkins intro. I actually wanted to be a corner growing up, which is like super morbid, but kind of relates. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: So I wanted to be like the very last stop in public safety, and I ended up being at the very front end, which is pretty ironic. Stephen McDonnell: first. Emily McNulty: Right. Dru Clarke: but yeah, I was doing like classic neuroscience research and I'm very millennial, so I want to see the impact that I'm having every single day and with research. That's not happening. Right. So I actually called my mom. I was like, hey, I know you paid like 50K a year for this degree, but I'm gonna pivot here. And she was like, where are we going? And I said, I don't know. And she actually recommended 911. So that's how Emily McNulty: Wow. Dru Clarke: I got into it. Emily McNulty: Okay, are you originally from the Fairfax area? Dru Clarke: kinda sorta not really. So I grew up in New York for ten years. Emily McNulty: Okay. Dru Clarke: So Brooklyn night originally. but Emily McNulty: Yeah, yeah. Dru Clarke: then I left. So when we left, we moved to this area. So I consider myself from here because if you ask me like where I go out to eat in New York, I don't know. That's not what I was doing at ten. So couldn't help you there. But Emily McNulty: Yeah. Yeah. Right. Dru Clarke: since we moved to Virginia, I've been in this the D B area all all my life. Yeah. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. so you we also talked about in your intro, you worked your way kind of through every level of of the center. So what made you interested in kind of like progressing and moving up that chain? Dru Clarke: You know, Emily, I I don't think of myself as working my way because that Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: kind of implies like I intentionally took these roles for a reason. And to be honest with you, I ended up in so many different roles just because they were presented to me. They were Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: opportunities at the time that no one else wanted because either a bad boss ran them or people were scared. Or sometimes I got opportunities that was like, Drew, you're gonna do this. And I was just like, Okay, I guess so. You know. So that's kind of why I had so so many, so many different hats so early in my career was like, no one wanted to train and Drew's a people person, sit them with Drew. And then QAQI came open and it was only supposed be for three months and it ended up being for two years because I loved it. And so I stayed in that role and then I got forced out of QAQI, ironically, by my director at the time, and he was like I have eight in the academy, six are failing, twelve week academy, four weeks left. I need you. And I was like, holy crap, what am I doing here? And he moved me to the training department and I fell in love with training. Like that was I think he saw something in me at a very early stage that I didn't see in myself. Because I was I was working in a back closet, like reviewing high priority calls all day long. I was not talking to people. I did not want to train. I was I was very nervous to publicly speak. So he saw that in me. He was like, I think you're the person. And in hindsight, he was absolutely correct. I got all eight out. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: Do you think all those diverse roles prepared you for where you are now? Dru Clarke: Absolutely. Absolutely. Even though it wasn't intentionally done, I think that each and every role I kind of draw upon in my current role, you know, especially with QA QI, just like performance metrics, being data informed but still people driven. in the Academy setting, a lot of people think that like teaching people things is all about knowledge, but it's actually about relationships. Like if you can relate to someone, they learn a lot better. And so the Academy taught me how to relate to people from I mean, we hired at eighteen, but we had a lot of people that are retired who come to work for nine one one. So the s the spectrum is like eighteen to sixty, you know. So you have Emily McNulty: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, it's a wide range. Dru Clarke: yeah, so you have to learn how to relate to so many different people, so many different generations. And I definitely take that with me in my role everywhere I go. And then after the academy, I became a supervisor for two years. Stephen McDonnell: What's out of curiosity, I don't think we've ever talked about this, the podcast, what's a day like when you're in the academy? Dru Clarke: In the academy, it's basic so you have a set syllabus that you create. and I think being an instructor, so any instructors out there who's listening, don't be afraid to like be creative. Like throw the syllabus out, be creative, right? It's good to have structure, but if they're not getting it, change the rule book. and so as an instructor, that was kind of my thing. It was like, okay, this is what we have planned for today, but based on what they show us, we have to pivot. And so it would be hands-on exercises. our academy, we're very fortunate. We have all of our technology and equipment, we have a demo version in the academy. So they're in a sandbox environment, they can mess up on CAD, they can enter events, do all that sort of thing. So getting them off of a PowerPoint, which we traditionally taught with and getting their fingers on the technology was huge for me. Emily McNulty: Yeah, experiential. Yeah, a little Dru Clarke: Yeah. Emily McNulty: bit more more in the weeds. Yeah, love it. okay, Drew, I have to ask, so you made the move to private sector for a short period of time, but what was it like taking kind of your nine one one perspective to the vendor industry partner side of of the the industry? Dru Clarke: It was incredible and also scary at the same time. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: so in nine one one it's very hierarchy, it's very command and control, right? And the vendor side is is not really like that. I mean they're structure, but you're f it's I think it's the Wild Wild West in a good way. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: Like it's like innovate, go, you know, be the change. Like you're grinding. Everyone on the team is like grinding for The mission, which we do in government, but it's a at a lot slower pace because there's so many guardrails. And so going into the commercial space, being looked at as a subject matter expert from day one was a huge change. Stephen McDonnell: it. Dru Clarke: Right. So Call Taker day one is like frightening. I don't know what I'm doing Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: here. Commercial side day one like, no, I've done this before. I know these people. I know this industry. So it was a lot more just kind of like inspirational in the sense that. I felt more empowered to drive change, which when you think about it as a call taker, you should absolutely feel that on a daily basis. And so that's kind of been my thing is like, how do I bring that innovation, that creativity, that drive from day one from the commercial side into the government side so that they feel like their leaders and subject matter experts from day one? Stephen McDonnell: The company you went to in the private sector was, I'm assuming at the period, like startup action, innovative, let's go, go, go too. You didn't go to like a moto or a slow moving type of company. You went to Dru Clarke: Yeah, Stephen McDonnell: a company that was moving at a fast pace. Dru Clarke: Yeah. So let me tell you this story. I'll I'll try to keep a PG. So I Stephen McDonnell: Thank Dru Clarke: was at a conference in Ohio, right, teaching a class on feedback. A buddy of mine who was in 911 was like, Come with me to this networking event. I'm like, Okay, networking, hate that word, right? So I go with him and he was like, I want to introduce you to some folks and I end up having a beer at a bar and this lady was like, Why are you here? Like at the conference. I'm telling her about this course and I mean I'm like gushing about my course, like And she's like, tell me more about like your journey and you know who who you are. And she's like, This is so fascinating. By the end of our conversation, she goes, I'm a recruiter for carbine and I think I have the perfect job for you. And I Emily McNulty: Mm. Dru Clarke: was like, I'm not looking for a job. So thanks. And she was like, Emily McNulty: Yeah. Yeah. my gosh. That's Dru Clarke: No, it's a role in customer success. Like, you'd be so great at this. And I was like, I don't even know what customer success is. I don't even know who carbine is. Like, all of this is Emily McNulty: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: not what I'm looking for, but When I looked at the job description, I was like, another opportunity just presented itself to me. I was Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: like, Why not me? Let's do this. So that's how Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: I moved into the private sector. Emily McNulty: I'm curious, are you a big believer in like fate? Like if it if it's meant to be, it will be. Yeah. I I love it. You can tell. but I love it. Dru Clarke: Yeah. Yeah. Emily McNulty: okay, I'm gonna take us back now to Fairfax. And obviously you you're now back at at Fairfax and you lead a team of two hundred telecommunicators. So what is a day in the life like for that? Chaos. One word. Dru Clarke: Chaos. It's good chaos though. Stephen McDonnell: I would assume. Dru Clarke: It is. And I I think the larger your center gets, the more sort of structure and accountability that you need, which at a certain point it it does kind of damper the amount of time you have to be creative because you have to c constantly like build lanes for people to drive in. but you're, you know, and once you get to my role, you're like putting out fires that your call takers kn they don't even know exist. You're just like managing things with stakeholders, with partnerships. You're basically trying to make sure that no external or internal threats impede the mission. And so when they see me, they see me smiling, they see me happy, they see, you know, have you go lucky Drew, but they don't know like behind the scenes, I'm like actively like working to mitigate Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: certain issues. Emily McNulty: Yeah. That's interesting. I I can imagine. But like you have the perfect personality for it too. Cause when you when you meet someone like you, like I know I've I met you now a couple of times at conferences in person, like you just put people at ease because you're kind. And I can see how that like levels up and and helps, which is wonderful. But okay, last question before I move us on into to talking about change talk a little bit more, but what is it about the nine one one profession that just keeps you so invested in it? Dru Clarke: I mean in the in the beginning and still today, I will say I'm I'm glad that you said that I started as a call taker because even today I still consider myself a call taker. Like I I'm still very tethered to that mission. Like even in my Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: role, when stuff hits the fan, my people know I will sit next to them and I will take calls if that's what they need, right? Stephen McDonnell: How often do you have to hop on? Dru Clarke: every once in a blue moon. Not too often. Yeah, not too Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Okay. Dru Clarke: often. Because there's many layers between me and and the front line. So I have supervisors, I have managers, things like that. but you know, if it's night shift and I'm off, what's two hours with the team just taking calls? Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: It means so much. where were we, Emily? Emily McNulty: Just talking about what keeps you kinda in in nine Dru Clarke: yeah. Emily McNulty: one one, why you come back every day, you know? Dru Clarke: Yeah, so originally it was saving lives. That that is Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: what that is what kept me. And then I kind of just became a believer in the people that do the do the work. You know, I was like, these are really the behind the scenes heroes that no one really knows about. We're very invisible. No one brings us cookies like they bring the fire department Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: or, you know, they say thank you. it it's a very thankless job. And so I was like, you know what, if I can be a voice for the people that feel like they have no voice, like what an honor for me. Stephen McDonnell: We talk about this all the time and I think we talked about it when we were at APCO with you Drew. but it is surprising for me not being in the 911, coming from 911 industry and now being in it for a couple of years, just that how much the, the, the actual, United States community society doesn't really know much about 911. It doesn't for whatever reason, whether it's the publicity or the way they're perceived, doesn't put them at the same level as a police officer or a firefighter. And being in it, I think it's ridiculous. And there's got to be ways to get it out. People like you are actually trying to get the message out of how important it is. it literally, it's the first line. Dru Clarke: Yeah. Yeah. We're the first of the first responder. And I think we talked about this, which is interesting from like a historical standpoint, is that, you know, we say like nineteen sixty eight was like the first nine one one call to Haleyville, Alabama, but really it was a test call. And that was only in Alabama. And so it took at least twenty years for it to hit the other states. So when I talk about nine one one, I always put the perspective of we are the youngest public safety agency. And so we have the most room to grow, which means we also have an opportunity to tell our story, which hasn't always been done. So I'm really excited. I think it's an exciting time in nine one one in general, not just from a tech space, but also from like a brand identity of like who are we outside of police and fire. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Yeah, that is that is cool. I always just am like shocked when someone's like, Yeah, nineteen sixty eight, it was the first nine one one call. And like you said, a test nine one one call, by the way. So you're Dru Clarke: Yeah. Emily McNulty: like, my gosh, you think about like you do the math in your head and you're like, Heesh, that is Dru Clarke: Yeah. Emily McNulty: just wild to think about. But Stephen McDonnell: Well, it's not to go down in a tangent. What you just said was very interesting. Kind of branding 911, Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Stephen McDonnell: where if you look at police and firefighters, they've been branded in movies and books as heroes, which they are. I'm not saying they are, but it is kind of branding that needs to happen for Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Stephen McDonnell: 911. Dru Clarke: And you know when it started happen happening? Holly Berry. I don't know how many times yeah, I don't know how many times people Emily McNulty: I was just gonna say the Heli Berry movie. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: would be like, you're Holly Berry. I'm like, it doesn't happen like that. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: That's not reality. Dru Clarke: That's not reality. But that was the first time it like entered mainstream was like Hollyberry. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Yeah. Emily McNulty: Yeah. my gosh. I was I was gonna bring that movie up, but my gosh, love it. Okay, so I'm gonna move us now, Drew, into talking about Change Talk. And you launched it in in twenty twenty. can you share more about what you do at Change Talk and kind of what prompted its founding? Dru Clarke: Yeah, okay. So I'll talk about what prompted its founding first. I I told you all I I hit the conference circuit around twenty eighteen was my first conference and I fell in love with teaching. I was like, I want to do this as as much as I can. And fortunately I didn't realize this at the time. My agency used to back me to go to these conferences and teach, right? They would financially back me. So pay for my flight, pay for my hotel, pay for my registration. which a lot of places don't do. And if you if you run a nine one one center, invest in that in your people. Like their Emily McNulty: no. Dru Clarke: passion projects, invest in that. so that's what I was doing twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen. I was applying everywhere, and I had three really well known conferences that I got into for twenty twenty, and one of them was in Missouri State. And I say that because we all know what happened in twenty twenty, right? COVID, Miss Rona. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Yeah. Dru Clarke: So she happens and Stephen McDonnell: Bye. Dru Clarke: now my agency was like, Drew, we can't back you financially because we can't by policy. Like we can't allow people to fly. We can't allow, you know, all these sort of things. And so I talked to my finance guy and I was like, the other conferences canceled except for this one conference in Missouri. And these people are so kind and there's just something that's like drawing me to them. And my finance director was like, Then create an LLC. Go on your own. And I was like, is it that easy? And he was like, Yeah, it's pretty easy. And so that's kind of what I did. And I'm not gonna lie to you all. When I when I went to my hotel room in Missouri, it was in the Ozarks. I cried. I was like, What the heck am I doing all the way out here? Conferences are not cheap. I'm in deep, like a couple thousand, right? I'm like I'm like, Emily McNulty: No, yeah, yeah. Dru Clarke: have I made the wrong choice? And of course, again, I call my mom because she's like my best friend. And she's like, Listen, you're there. You've you've made it. Be there. Like Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: be where your feet are. Right. And so I went to the conference and I mean, those people, I still am connected with them today. They showed me so much love and care. And I really owe it to who I am today as a presenter, I owe it to them. And so like that's how Change Talk was was born. It wasn't because Stephen McDonnell: you Dru Clarke: I wanted to make money or I wanted to be, you know, it was simply because I wanted to keep a commitment to the Missouri conference. And my finance Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: director like, then make an LLC. And then it became something like completely different. Then it started to take off and it was like people started requesting me, all sorts of places. And I always a people always ask me like, Why don't you have a website? Why don't you have this? I'm like, I have a full time job Emily McNulty: Yeah. I literally can't. Yeah. Dru Clarke: I literally can't. Like change talk is not my full time job, but it is my vehicle to be able to go places and make revenue that my Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: agency can't back me to do. So like last year I went to Madrid for a a critical control Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, it's amazing. Dru Clarke: room conference. Wild. Wild. I would have never dreamed that I'd be presenting in Madrid, which was just amazing. Emily McNulty: Yeah. That is that's so cool. And I like when I when I was doing my sleuth thing on you, I was like digging into it and I was like, my gosh, I I love this kind of conversation about like culture and then the relationship building, just the people part of of business and just how the psychology behind it. So like let me ask what impact have you seen with change talk? Like obviously you've been called to speak it multiple places and people are are seeing the impact, like What imp like what impact have you seen on the people that you're speaking to? Dru Clarke: You know, it's really interesting because when you're presenting, like you you kinda have a feeling that your stuff is landing, but you don't really know the impact that you're making on people until much later. And so Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: there's this can we get juicy a little bit? There's there's this Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, that's that's what we're on here. We're on here. Emily McNulty: Pleased. Dru Clarke: there's this nine one one Facebook group. It's called Nocturnal Dispatchers. Notorious for like the tea, right? They they give Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: the tea out in the industry. Not promoting Emily McNulty: Hmm. Dru Clarke: them, just telling you what where this is coming from. Stephen McDonnell: you Dru Clarke: but they had this segment on there about like someone who was looking for presenters. And this one girl, and people were just sending they were screenshotting it and they were sending it to me. This one girl said, I was ready to quit my job forever in nine one one, and I heard Drew Clark speak, and I am still in the industry today because of him. And I was like, Holy crap, like that's my why. Emily McNulty: Jeez. Tears immediately. Yeah. Yeah. Dru Clarke: That's my why. Like that one person. And so I don't know the impact of all of the people that I meet and I talk to. Emily McNulty: Right. Dru Clarke: But on the back end, when I get sort of, you know, the confirmation like that, I'm like, okay, let's keep doing it. If one person, if it saves one person's career, let's keep doing Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, Dru Clarke: it. Stephen McDonnell: that's an amazing story. Did you say you still keep in touch and help out Missouri? As far as? Yeah, yeah, Dru Clarke: Yeah, when they need me, yeah. Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: you will. That's awesome. Dru Clarke: Yeah. Emily McNulty: That's so cool. that's such a unique start to like a business. Like, you know, it's so interesting. Dru Clarke: Yeah, and they were one of the first states that I ran into they do free training for the state. shout out to Zachary Dykes, who is one of the app co presidents for Missouri. He leads this free training network. And so he reached out to me a couple of times and was like, Hey, w what's some new content you have? And so anytime he reaches out, I'm like, I'm there, you know, Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: because they were so just like crucial for my start. Stephen McDonnell: That must have been a cool call to your mother afterwards being like, hey, thank you so much. This ended Dru Clarke: yeah. Stephen McDonnell: up being unbelievable. Dru Clarke: And like Missouri doesn't have a lot of black people, just full disclosure in the Ozarks, Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: you know? And so I used to have this like full, like a a lot more luscious beard and everyone kept like Stephen McDonnell: you Dru Clarke: staring at me and I was like, why is everyone staring at me? And finally this one lady was like, You look like LeBron James and I was like, Okay, got it. Emily McNulty: my gosh, Stephen McDonnell: Uh-oh. Emily McNulty: that's too funny. my gosh. Stephen McDonnell: Now I'm gonna keep thinking that. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: I just gotta get some more muscles, you know. Stephen McDonnell: How, how is, I'm assuming, you drove, right? Could you fly back then? Dru Clarke: I well I flew okay, so this was how naive I was. I wasn't even like geographically in tune to what I was doing. I flew into St. Louis and then I looked on an Uber and I was like, How far is it? And the Uber's like four hours Stephen McDonnell: And then I had to. Emily McNulty: my gosh. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, into the middle of nowhere. Dru Clarke: So I hop in I yeah, I get a rental car and now I'm driving four hours. It's dark, I'm I don't know where I am. So I was just like having a crisis moment, you know. Emily McNulty: Yeah, that's like a just you remember that always. And like sometimes Dru Clarke: Yeah, yeah. Emily McNulty: you get it comes back and you're like PTSD. Stephen McDonnell: I did watch a TV show that showed the Ozarks and it does look like the lakes are actually pretty, guess, when you see them. Dru Clarke: It's gorgeous. Emily McNulty: Right. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Emily McNulty: Awesome. Okay. So Drew, like we talked about you being a people person, but like why do you take why have you taken such a vested interest in organizational culture? Dru Clarke: in my journey, I did not receive a lot of training for the roles that I was in. and I think even today, with all of the training that's out there, there are still a lot of people who feel like there's no playbook, there's no blueprint, you know, I'm thrust into a supervisor position. What's the competencies to be a great supervisor? I don't know. You know. Steven asked me, What what does a day in the life look like as an assistant director? A lot of people, they just don't know. And so that's kind of what keeps me going in this work is like I want to teach people the things that I wish I knew back when I started these roles and like show them kind of some best practices of how to navigate certain things. And my private sector experience also kind of informed like what does a good implementation look like? What does a bad implementation look like? and a lot of people that are just do government work, they don't they're not exposed to that on a daily basis. Stephen McDonnell: Fairfax does seem to be very in front. Emily McNulty: Yeah, the rest. Stephen McDonnell: on knowing what a good implementation and a bad implementation looks like, which is a great thing. And it helps that you're there and you have perspective from both sides. Is that, Ben, I know Emily, you're going to go into Fairfax in a bit, so I don't want to steal your thunder here, but is that something that was kind of taught through you guys growing into it? Or did you really take that from Carbine? How did that come about that Fairfax has turned into really a center that a ton of centers around the United States look up to? and how you guys approach it. Dru Clarke: Honestly, I I credit it to our very first director when we became an independent agency, his name's Steve Sauter. he built teams that were not just competent in Fairfax, but that could deploy out and learn. And so Fairfax is very fortunate that we have a lot of people that started under the headset that have now moved into other roles within the organization, support services, technology, telephony teams, FOIA. HR. So, but this was Steve's vision. This was, you know, building teams that could handle anything. And so now we're in a, you know, a a succession period where the people that still came up under his leadership, they are very well versed in, you know, we have Steve McMurr. Steve McMurr was he implemented the first shift for our center to go to the ESI net. First center in in Virginia to do that. Like We have a lot of trailblazers. So I I thank you for the accolades, but it's not just Drew. Like there's Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: a whole team of us in the center who Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: are very committed to best practices, not just regionally but nationally. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, and do you got, it seems like you do, but I'll ask the question. You embrace that, that you guys are, you know, one of the top centers with deploying technology, looking at new technology and help out other centers around the country. That's something that you guys clearly embrace. Dru Clarke: Absolutely. We are very tech forward. and part of my role is saying when the tech gets a little bit too much, right? Emily McNulty: Mm. Dru Clarke: So it it's I always say it's good to be on the leading edge, it's not good to be on the bleeding edge. because then the people get burnt out and then you have good tech that they're gonna resist because they're just tired, right? So there's a checks and balances to that. Like yes, we wanna be innovative, but you have to do it in a very strategic way that people can absorb. Emily McNulty: Yeah. And I that segues well kind of into to my next question in this section is about wellness and retention and how it's just the staffing crisis is it's across the country. It's in the un in Canada too, even. but what I guess, how do you view it being so involved in the people part of the nine one one center? And then what do you what have you done at Fairfax or what do you believe centers can do better to help like mitigate that crisis? Dru Clarke: Yeah, so and I I always tell this story about, you know, my initial journey in nine one one after I onboarded. and this is not to, you know, rag on Fairfax or or anything. These are industry sort of norms. They don't learn your name in the first year and a half. You're rookie, you're newbie, you know, you're not allowed to make change. They literally tell you like you haven't earned your keep here yet to make change. they tell you to keep your head down. Don't make too much noise, you know. So it's a lot of like command and control things from the very beginning, and that inhibits innovation and creativity. Right? And so now, when I went to the private sector, it was like, What's your name? I'm like, Drew with a U. They're like, got it. It took my Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: center like two years to know that I went by Drew with a U. Emily McNulty: Yeah. my gosh. Stephen McDonnell: That's a very old school command and control though, right? That's how, you know. Dru Clarke: Yeah. Exactly. And I I get into these debates sometimes when I teach with the older generation because they're like, You have to earn respect. And I'm like, No, you give respect. You earn trust, but you give respect because they're a human, right? And so now I think that we're we're trying to implement sort of a cultural shift where when people walk in from day one, they're part of a team. It's not us versus them. Like they are the team. You know, they're the future, they're the vision. They're also your time off for vacation. So Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: So those are some of the like cultural norms that we're trying to change, not just in Fairfax, but in nine one one as as a whole, is like, yes, we have traditionally been command control, but I don't think it's working for the newer generations anymore. And it's okay to change. Stephen McDonnell: And I mean, I talk about the flywheel here too. When you lose people, especially good people, replacing them takes a ton of time. You guys are interviewing and hiring, you know, four to one, five to one to see who gets through the training and the training takes 12 to 18 months. Can you talk to that? Like how difficult it is to keep the certain amount of people that you need on staff? Dru Clarke: Yeah. Yeah. And and not just the time that it takes to train. When they leave, that's money out the door. That's Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: thousands of dollars that you have to start all over again. so for us in Fairfax, we have a very large, we have a re very robust training program. So for three months you're in an academy setting in a cohort. Then you get into on the job training where there's a one on one trainer for another three months. So there's a six month total period where you're being monitored. And basically evaluate it on your performance before you can take that one call by yourself, which is good for us, right? We we want to make sure there's a safety net built in. but during that time, especially from academy setting to on-the-floor setting, the cultures are very different. The academy is very much it's it's controlled, it's very friendly, they're they're catering to your learning style. When you get out on the floor, the pressure is so heavy. That it's oftentimes hard for the CTOs to really sort of cater to you. And I think that's the problem a lot of our CTOs have is that they're constantly documenting, they're constantly trying to make sure, you know, you haven't messed up because they are liable for your performance. And I think sometimes we lose that when we just tell them, you know, we need to retain, we need to retain, we're losing too many. And it's like to be a CTO, you're hand you are the supervisor at that point. You're the first line supervisor. You're handling so many administrative things. that if we could help them with the administrative things, they could focus more on the people aspect. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: And I think that's where the magic is really gonna be. It's empowering our CTOs so that we can retain the talent in on the job training so that they become competent when they're cut loose and then they stay long. Emily McNulty: Yeah, they're more they're you're setting them up better at the front. Dru Clarke: Exactly. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Okay, so Steve definitely stole my thunder before, but Stephen McDonnell: Yeah Emily McNulty: it's fine. so we talked about Fairfax being innovation forward, Drew, and I think like you we can tell too that that culture aligns well with with your way of thinking. so what do you think like, and you said too, you you have a say in like The how much technology might be too much technology or what decision it is made. So, like, how do you go in every day with that mindset, especially with in the past few years, how much more technology is coming out in the the AI phase and and everything, everyone's talking about AI. Like, how do you balance that in your position? Dru Clarke: Yeah, it it really comes down to having a pulse on your people. and I can't do that from my office, right? I've gotta be with them. I have to have time with them. I have to set up meetings where there's, you know, cross departmental meetings, time where there's focus groups, just to hear their voice. We even have sometimes I hate it, some transparency, sometimes I hate it and I wanna get rid of it. But we have an anonymous suggestion box. Right. So at any point, people have access to me. People can write to me whatever they feel, whatever kind of suggestions that they want. And surprisingly though, out of this anonymous suggestion box two years ago, so many people put, we want AI for non-emergency. So that tells me the appetite is there. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: That's the hardest, that's the hardest part. Right? The appetite's already there. So now it's it's just about finding the right fit and you bring your people with you in those sort of evaluation elements because they're gonna be using it. So now you're building teams to go and scout out, okay, well, what's the best product? Is it this company? Is it that company? Okay, let's bring them in for a demo. Let's see who's actually willing to be a partner and not just implement and ditch, you know? So that's kind of how best case scenario we implement. Now, have we made mistakes in the past? Absolutely. Where we get excited, we purchase, and then we're like, they hate it. Yeah. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: Getting the buy-in from them is huge though. mean, Dru Clarke: It's huge. Stephen McDonnell: that is interesting because I think sometimes you're looking at people who are going top down at a very high level being like, this is what we're purchasing. Good luck. Dru Clarke: Yeah. And that's why I laugh at your question in the beginning, Emily, for this or that about the conference floor, like the vendor floor Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: versus a stage. If I walk the vendor floor, everyone knows I'm, you know, one of the top officials in my center. So they're gonna try to sell me everything. However, Emily McNulty: Yeah. For sure. Dru Clarke: I don't buy anything from the vendor floor. I send my people out to buy things. Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: Because you you can tell a good company with how they treat your people, how they treat Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: the front line. And so I'll tell them, hey guys, you know, we're looking for furniture, go find a good chair. They Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: come back and they're like, some some people were kind of nice, some people were kind of not nice, some people kind of like just I felt invisible, you know. Okay, we won't buy from that. So Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: it it's it's a very good temperature check for who is willing to work with my people versus who's willing to work with the title. Emily McNulty: Yeah, that Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, great idea. Emily McNulty: it is. It transitions very nicely into my next question is what makes like an industry partnership work from your perspective? Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, and what we before you even dive into that, we feel like there's a difference between vendor versus partner. And Dru Clarke: Mm-hmm. Stephen McDonnell: we've seen it even more in the public safety space. And I'm sure you've seen it sounds like you've seen it. You deal with it, I'm sure on a day to day basis. So yeah, to Emily's question, what makes a good industry partner? Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: Yes, someone who is willing to take feedback and be open and honest with you. And honestly, guys, it it's kind of a shame sometimes where the norm is just being sold smoke and mirrors. You know? Where, you know, you're you're being sold a pipe dream but the product doesn't actually exist. And I think it would land a a lot different if you said, Hey, this is the vision, this is the roadmap, it's not here yet, but this is what we want to create with you. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: That's a totally different conversation than, hey, this is what we have, buy this. And Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: then you purchase and it's like, it's not ready yet. And then you're Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: one year in and it's like you're still kind of working to to get it implemented. So I think from the very beginning it's it's honesty. It's like going on a date. Who are you? You know, like let's keep it real. Who are you? What are your values? Can I trust you? Do I want do I want to build something long term with you? Or is this just like, all right, next. Stephen McDonnell: And we also see, especially in, because we come from being a managed services provider, it's, there's a lot of companies, especially with AI, which it's even more dangerous in AI that people implement and then, see you later, Emily McNulty: Yeah, they're gone. Stephen McDonnell: onto the next one. And with AI, you definitely don't want to be doing that. You want to be making sure you're in a partnership and working it out together. Dru Clarke: Yeah, and not just that, but who in the partnership has the power to make change? So if if I'm buying this product, okay, what does the maintenance look like? Okay, when I when I have issues, what what what what are the SLAs? Can I fix things Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: on my own or do you own everything and I always have to reach out to you to fix a problem that I have at 3 a.m. on the night shift? So getting our partners to kind of understand that like sometimes the power has to be shared in a controlled way. is is very different in a partnership. That conversation looks and feels of very different with a partner versus a vendor. And and Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: I think legacy equipment, not putting names out there, but a lot of legacy equipment, they still have that sort of vendor mindset. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Emily McNulty: Right, right. Okay. I I have to ask this, Drew, but you've been a big part of bringing Womat Constantine WFM into Fairfax. And just curious is if you can share a little bit about what prompted kind of your interests in workforce management and then from the industry partner vendor relations side, like how has the experience been so far? Dru Clarke: Yeah. So when I got back to the center in twenty twenty three, we were still on Excel spreadsheets for scheduling. And I I had this like flash imagery of just like Flintstones and like typing on tablets with, you know, stones. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: I'm like, this is crazy. I'm like, this is absolutely crazy. And then one of the problems that we run into is people sign up for all these shifts and they just forget. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: They just forget they sign and then it be it because a huge staffing challenge. And so again, I think the appetite for change was there. It's just, okay, who's the right partner to move forward with? And unfortunately, we started with one, you know, one company and and they could not deliver. And then when that happens, the trust that people have in the space, in the scheduling space, diminishes. So now I have to do a lot of extra work to say, hey, you don't stop at failure. We have to try again. Right. And then you guys came along. Stephen McDonnell: Thank Dru Clarke: And I think sc sc my director Scott Broman recommended you and I was like, I never heard of them. Let me let me know let me look into them. And then just the way that like you engaged with us as we interacted, I was like, okay, these seem like good people, right? Good people behind the product. Let's see what the product's about. Then you show the product. Was the product ready? I don't think so. You know? Stephen McDonnell: Did it? Dru Clarke: Was the demo great? I don't think so. And the Honestly, the game changer was when I told you guys that feedback from my team and you said, We understand. Will you give us an opportunity to do it again? That was like, that's what a partnership is about. Stephen McDonnell: Yep. Dru Clarke: Right? It's taking that feedback and saying, Okay, let's let's make it better. And so I had to go back to my team and I said, Hey, you wanna work with people that are willing to get dirty with you. Right. Because all these different processes, you're not gonna find something out of the box. That's gonna work with all these different processes. So you want someone not only who's gonna be willing to get dirty with you, but when stuff goes right, you become the blueprint and you can help them grow. Right? It's it's it's a mutual relationship. And I was strategic, and I know you guys you you have mentioned this to me. I was strategic in that I took one of my most critical managers and I made him the head of this project. And he was critical because he worked on the old project. And he really w he was very vested in that success and it didn't it didn't succeed. And so I had to be like, hey man, it's not you. It's okay. But but what I want from you is to keep that investment with a different partner. And so that's kind of how we we landed here today. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, I think that strategy was great. think Emily McNulty: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: hopefully you think of us as what you said earlier. Like, yeah, we were not ready at that point. was still the product was still getting established and we needed feedback and stuff and we didn't want to just throw some piece of software at you guys. Let's build it correctly and customize it specifically for Fairfax. So hopefully we've been accommodating and working as a partnership with you guys and building this out. Dru Clarke: Absolutely. We have been on Excel for twenty years. Why Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: would we expect a partner to just flip a switch and like have everything that we want? Right? Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: It you know, we have to work towards it. So I I'm very grateful for you guys because in nine one one I know we're a very grumpy bunch Emily McNulty: No way. No. No. Stephen McDonnell: I don't think so. Here and there. No, I Dru Clarke: You don't think so? my gosh. Stephen McDonnell: anticipated it to be much grumpier. I've been pleasantly Dru Clarke: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: surprised. Dru Clarke: Well I love that. I love that. And I know Chad, it was it was like what, his first day? It was like Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, Chad was correct. was a team. Yeah, he just happens to live near you guys, so he was thrown right into Emily McNulty: Yeah. Yep. Two honey. Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: it. Dru Clarke: It's so great. Emily McNulty: Yeah, he w he dove right in. Wonderful. Well, thank you for sharing about that, Drew. We really appreciate it. Stephen McDonnell: Yes, thank you, I appreciate that. Emily McNulty: and we'll keep getting better. We're looking forward to it. so I'll I'll continue this conversation into just really quickly on AI. Like we we chatted about, it's it's everywhere, it's showing up at every level. Obviously you said some of your your people are very interested in using it for for non-emergency. So how are you thinking about it er at Fairfax being known as a more innovative, progressive bunch when it comes to that technology? How are you utilizing AI? How are you trying to imp implement it with your people? Dru Clarke: Mm-hmm. I think I think we have to have controlled chaos, right? It has to be controlled, especially in this space because we are dealing with lives. You you don't want to implement something that's that's gonna completely destroy the public's trust in your capability. Right? And so that's kind of why we went the non emergency direction. I know there's centers out there that are looking for AI to to help them with nine one one and Godspeed to them. You know, for Fairfax, I think We are looking to really perfect the the low priority, high acuity stuff first before we venture into anything else. And that's kind of where we landed. And I know I mentioned this earlier, but I'm like, if AI is like, it's like a a secretary on steroids, right? It can do administrative it eats administrative tasks for breakfast. That's what it does. And so that's what the non-emergency line is. When I started 911, I was like, I did not. Sign up for non-emergency. This is not Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: the saving lives mission. it's it's basically a glorified Google. Like you are Google for the community. Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: And so if we can get AI to kind of interact in a safe and measured way with community members for those low problems, then we can start to venture out and imagine it in different spaces. But for now, we're using it for simulations. We're using it for AI on the non emergency line. We're using it for translation because Fairfax County, we have a hundred and seventy different languages spoken. So it is very good with helping us kind of translate any language that we need. And in the future, we're we're we're looking for more sort of performance assistance, like live call monitoring and and just being there to say, Hey, I I heard this in the background. Did you, you know, did you see that? Did you flag this? That sort of thing. Emily McNulty: Very cool. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, that's great. I think the phased approach for Emily McNulty: Yes. Stephen McDonnell: 911 is so important. I think AI in general, there's some trust issues in every industry and in everywhere possible. But 911, as you said, it's not a contact center that's taking credit card refunds or, what's my code to get into my bank account? It's life and death, literal life and death. you don't want to be the use case for too much of on the fringe AI and I think a phased approach is correct and who knows, it may never get to the actual 911 calls. Emily McNulty: Right. Yeah. Dru Clarke: Yeah. And that's okay. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, 100%. Dru Clarke: You know, that's okay. Emily McNulty: no. Dru Clarke: There's I think I think and this is a little aside, this is a little philosophical, but I think it's the human tendency to want to create something human. Right? But we are such complex beings that it is very hard for a computer to encompass the whole essence of being a human. And that's Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Dru Clarke: a blessing. Like that is a huge win for humanity is that we have a level of connection and empathy that cannot be replicated easily. And so I, you know, as as as much of a techie as I am, I am still a humanist. And kind of marrying the two i it's very important. Emily McNulty: 100%. All right, Drew, last question for you before we start to wrap up. But so you started at Fairfax 13 years ago. How has the floor like the Fairfax 911 Center floor evolved since you started? And then what changes that have you like helped been a part of that you think other and more centers should be considering? Dru Clarke: my gosh, there's so much evolution that's happened. I don't even know where to start. Everything has changed and Emily McNulty: Yeah. That's a broad question. Stephen McDonnell: That's a broad question. Emily McNulty: My bad. Scratch it out. Dru Clarke: But you you know what, there's a there's a couple of really key things that stood out to me, that even I pushed back on in the very, very beginning, which was social media. When social Emily McNulty: Mm. Dru Clarke: media came out, I was like, Why does nine one one need to be on social media? You know, I don't want pe I don't want people to see inside and you Emily McNulty: Yeah. Right. Dru Clarke: know, and that's so counterintuitive to how I feel now about branding and telling our story. Emily McNulty: Mm-hmm. Dru Clarke: and what a great vehicle social media has been. we had an employee, she she's moved on, she's promoted out to another agency, and we're really excited for her. But she was really the the brain power behind our social media platform. And she did this segment called Day in the Life of a Dispatcher, and it went viral across the nation. And all she's doing is she's has her yeti and she's going into work and the camera's following her, you know. It was very authentic. but I think that that was a moment where I was like, Okay, we do have a real opportunity to tell our story versus the media telling it. Like how powerful is that to like give people the real Hollyberry story in 911? You Stephen McDonnell: Cheers. Emily McNulty: Yeah. Dru Clarke: know? that's one. Two, my center always has had a big heart. So I won't say that we evolved into this, but it has kind of grown into a movement. So back when Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina, we had a a statewide sort of meeting. That was very impromptu during the crisis. And, you know, people were like, okay, how can we help? so a s a very select few of our centers in Virginia sent people, sent 911 professionals to Helene to just be the staffing for the people that could not get off because they had to stay in the center. And that was really a mutual aid moment. That I don't think we have very often in 911. Police departments have mutual aid, fire departments have mutual aid. It's very embedded in sort of their systems. But for us in 911, that's not a very common thing. So now our region has kind of grown and expanded. We have 55 professionals now in the Northern Virginia region that are TERP members, telecommunicator emergency response teams. And so they'll go out in crisis to support other centers. But also they'll support local centers when there's a line of duty death and people want to go to the funeral or when DC has an inauguration or a special event and they just need extra support, our professionals can go help. So I think that us Stephen McDonnell: Let's go. Dru Clarke: heroes helping heroes is kind of the next wave of nine one one. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah, that's awesome. Emily McNulty: Very cool. That is awesome. Yeah, I love it. All right. Steve, do you have any other questions for Drew before we wrap up? Stephen McDonnell: No, this has been great. feel like I was, I was being kind of cautious because I asked Drew a hundred questions at dinner the other night and found out a lot about this and I didn't want to overshadow anything and speak. So, Emily McNulty: Yeah. Stephen McDonnell: but no, thank you, Drew. This has been awesome. Really appreciate you coming on. Emily McNulty: Yes. Stephen McDonnell: means a lot to us. Thank you. Dru Clarke: I I appreciate you too. And that dinner was was wonderful. I actually have a selfie of us, so I'll send that over to you. Stephen McDonnell: Awesome. Emily McNulty: can't wait to see that. Stephen McDonnell: Awesome. Emily McNulty: That'll be the the what should we call it, the the front of this episode. That'll be the main main main Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Emily McNulty: picture. Wonderful. All right. Drew, are there any other initiatives or programs at Fairfax that you'd like to share about or just any other message that we we didn't hit on that you'd like to share? Dru Clarke: I I I I want to get people involved with their police and fire departments a little bit more. so we have a really cool initiative happening right now where our real-time crime center, they have drones as a first responder. And the drone is monitoring our calls live. And it's looking at a transcript and it's picking out high priority things and it's flying in that direction to the location of the call before we even enter the call for service. And so we're looking at a zero minute response time. And it it is a huge sort of impact to safety and security for our community. And it's a partnership. Again, that word has come up a lot. It's a partnership between us and the police department. And so I know that as we kind of move into this space where 911 centers are separating from police and fire departments, I want to emphasize that we need each other. We need each other from commercial. In government, we need each other within government from police, fire, EMS, Sheriff's Office, Animal Control, nine one one. We're all one big ecosystem and it only works if we're all in it together. Emily McNulty: Thanks for sharing, Drew. Really appreciate Stephen McDonnell: All right. Emily McNulty: it. For our listeners, if you're interested in following along with what Drew is doing or what Fairfax County is doing, you can find Drew on LinkedIn under Drew Clark. Clark with an E, Drew with a U. I had to call those two. Wow. Stephen McDonnell: Yeah. Emily McNulty: And then you can also find Fairfax County on LinkedIn as well. And last but not least, but definitely look out for Drew speaking at conferences. I definitely recommend. finding one of his keynotes. I know the Mid Eastern ApCO training symposium, that's coming up. So we're gonna we're gonna be there and in full, full support of Drew. Drew, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. We really appreciate it. Dru Clarke: Appreciate it. I'll see you there. Stephen McDonnell: Thank you, Drew. Appreciate Emily McNulty: All right. Stephen McDonnell: it.