Alexandria has found its next emergency communications chief just across the Potomac. City Manager James Parajon has appointed Heather McGaffin, who currently runs the District of Columbia's 911 and 311 operations, to lead Alexandria's Department of Emergency and Customer Communications starting January 4.
The appointment follows a national search, according to Alexandria Brief, which reported that McGaffin will succeed Renee Gordon, who has led the department since 2015 and is retiring at the end of the month. Alexandria's department handles 911, 311 and non-emergency communications for the city's public safety agencies, a broad portfolio that McGaffin will inherit after years running a similar — and considerably larger — operation in the nation's capital.
A Long Road Through 911 Dispatch Centers
McGaffin has led the District's Office of Unified Communications since 2023, the same outlet reported, but her path there stretches back decades. Per FOX 5 DC, she began working as a Calvert County 911 call-taker in 2005 and had already worked as an EMT at age 16. She has described her own career differently in terms of timeline, saying, “I've worked in 911 since I was 22 years old,” according to the same station's report.
Before joining the District's Office of Unified Communications, the station's report notes she spent about five years as a consultant for a national public safety firm. She joined OUC in 2020 as chief of special operations and investigations and was promoted to deputy director in February 2022, according to the same account, climbing the ranks before taking the director's job the following year.
Per the WUSA9 report on the move, Parajon said McGaffin's experience across public safety communications makes her an outstanding choice to lead Alexandria's emergency and customer communications department. The same report describes McGaffin as nationally recognized in the emergency communications field, noting she chairs the National Capital Region 911 Directors Committee and serves as co-chair of the NG911 Institute.
DC's Mayor Sends Her Off
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser thanked McGaffin for her service to the District and said she will continue serving DC through the end of the year, per WUSA9's account. Bowser also credited McGaffin's leadership with reducing average call-answer times from 40 seconds to four seconds, and wished her success in her next chapter while expressing gratitude that she would stay in the region, the station reported.
What Alexandria's Department Looks Like
Alexandria's emergency communications operation is organized into three divisions, with authorized staffing listed as 34 positions for 911 Operations, 14.5 for 311 Operations and 14 for administration, according to city budget records posted by Alexandria's government. The city has also touted its 911 center's technical capabilities: it supports text-to-911 and holds public-safety communications accreditation through CALEA, with the city describing it as the first center in the region and one of seven in Virginia to carry that accreditation, per the city's Emergency and Customer Communications page.
That infrastructure was put to the test during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Alexandria relied on remote dispatchers equipped with laptops, headsets, smartphones, FirstNet hotspots and mobile routers running computer-aided dispatch software, according to a blog post from FirstNet.
A Regional Pattern of 911 Leadership Turnover
Alexandria's leadership change arrives amid a broader wave of turnover atop regional 911 centers. Henrico County recently announced Rebekah Taylor to lead its Department of Emergency Communications after she served as assistant director, according to a Henrico County announcement; that department operates the county's 911 call center. Portland, Oregon, went through a similar transition in May, selecting Steve Mawdsley to lead its Bureau of Emergency Communications, with city officials saying he brings decades of experience and an innovative approach to meeting the community's needs, according to a statement from the city of Portland.
