Untitled Document

Dr. Nancy A. Boxill is joining the National Legal Preparedness Training Program with years of experience as a psychologist focusing on vulnerable populations.

Dr. Boxill is the Fulton County Commissioner representing District 6, in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Boxill is the first woman to serve on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners and the first woman to hold the position of vice chair on the Commission.

Dr. Boxill is also an author on psychological issues and works as a consultant offering psychological services to individuals and organizations. She is also a member of the National Association of Counties Large Urban Counties Steering Committee and chair of the Atlanta Fulton Recreation Authority. Dr. Boxill is also a part time faculty member at The Union Institute Graduate School.

Mr. Daniel Castillo is joining the Legal Preparedness Training Program’s Advisory Board with an extensive background in law enforcement and correctional emergency management. Currently, Mr. Castillo is employed as the Chair of the School of Criminal Justice at ITT Technical Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Castillo, a resident of Indiana, recently served on a team that authored steps for implementation of the mutual aid agreement between the cities of Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Louisville, as mandated by the Mayor of Indianapolis and the Marion County Emergency Management Agency.

Prior, to his current position as the Criminal Justice Chair, Mr. Castillo served as Lieutenant for the Marion County Jail II. While serving as Lieutenant
Mr. Castillo was the team leader for the facility’s Emergency Action Plan which addressed all emergency scenarios in the facility. Mr. Castillo also served as the facility chemical munitions instructor and authored the addendum to the facility emergency action plan that governed the use of chemical agents.

Dr. Sylvia Hill is a professor of criminal justice and Director of the Institute for Public Safety and Justice at the University of the District of Columbia. Dr. Hill brings 30 years of experience as a community organizer, trainer, and program evaluator to the Advisory Board. Her training experiences include cultural sensitivity training for law enforcement officers and emergency management for security and law enforcement personnel. She also served as the District of Columbia’s Crime Statistical Analysis Center. As a criminal justice faculty member with community organizing experiences, Dr. Hill brings her strategic knowledge of helping a diverse set of professionals who are involved in the emergency management process to identify legal preparedness issues that will particularly impact disadvantaged communities.

Chief Richard J. Pennington brings to the National Legal Preparedness training program extensive law enforcement experience. He is currently serving as Atlanta’s 22nd Chief of Police. He oversees the operation of the largest municipal law enforcement agency in the State of Georgia. Chief Pennington has established a new Homeland Security Unit within the police department.

Prior to becoming Atlanta’s Chief of Police, Chief Pennington was employed as the Assistant Chief of Police for the Washington, D.C. Police Department and as the Chief of Police in New Orleans, Louisiana. During his tenure in New Orleans, Chief Pennington restructured the department and implemented new hiring standards. Chief Pennington, while in New Orleans, also reduced homicides and implemented community policing programs.

Mr. Bryan Prescott is joining the National Legal Preparedness Training Program with numerous years of legal and non-legal management experience. Currently, Mr. Prescott is serving as the General Counsel for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. As General Counsel he handles all of the legal issues involving the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, including but not limited to, interpreting state statutes, federal statutes, federal regulations and FEMA policy. In addition, he is involved in the bidding, drafting and negotiation of all contracts executed by the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.

Mr. Prescott has also served as a Planner I for the State of Alabama Emergency Management Agency. As a Planner I, Mr. Prescott worked as the emergency services branch director. During his tenure as branch director, Mr. Prescott, served as the manager for a disaster recovery center. In this capacity he also updated various emergency management plans for the State of Alabama.

Mr. Stephenson is joining the National Legal Preparedness Training Program’s Advisory Board with thirty years of experience in the emergency management field. Mr. Stephenson’s areas of expertise are fire services command, emergency management course training, and emergency management coordination.

Mr. Stephenson most recently served as the Battalion Chief Officer for the City of Austin, Texas. As Battalion Chief, Mr. Stephenson was in command of eight stations, thirteen apparatus, and fifty-four personnel on a twenty-four hour shift. He managed and coordinated staff functions and training. Mr. Stephenson has also held a variety of emergency management leadership positions including serving as Fire Command in the Unified Command at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport during the airlift of Katrina evacuees into Austin in September 2005. Mr. Stephenson also served as the Fire Command in the Unified Command at the Austin Convention Center during the sheltering operations for 5000 Katrina evacuees in September 2005.

Mr. Stephenson is a licensed paramedic as well as a certified emergency management services’ advanced course coordinator. He is also a certified master firefighter. Mr. Stephenson is also a hazardous materials response - operations level technical rescue technician and a confined space rescue technician. Mr. Stephenson is currently teaching in the Texas Engineering Extension program at Texas A&M University.