About
The public safety home for civilian TAK
TAK Public Safety is a 501(c)(3) created in 2024 to help public safety organizations adopt better situational awareness through the Team Awareness Kit — building on the global community already in the field.
Vision
Situational awareness in the hands of every first responder.
Mission
Overcome the barriers to making TAK accessible for public safety agencies across the U.S. and the globe.
Values
Open first. For users, from users.
Parallel to the TAK Product Center
The TAK Product Center at TAK.gov serves the official product line and government community. TAK Public Safety focuses on the public safety and civilian market — law enforcement, fire, EMS, wildland fire, homeland security, and allied partners who need practitioner-led education, events, and community.
Independent & educational
We aim to be a starting point on the TAK journey: conferences like CivTAK, weekly field stories, curated resources, and membership that connects individuals, agencies, and companies without gatekeeping the technology itself.
Board of Directors
Public safety professionals from across the U.S. elected to guide the mission. Tap a name to read their profile.
Cory Foy (NREMT-B, TCCC, SRT-A) is a seasoned Technical Rescue, Swiftwater, and Wilderness search specialist based in North Carolina. With over 25 years of experience in technology and public safety, he has served as an Assistant Fire Chief in Florida and as a member of Microsoft’s global technology field response team. Cory is also the President of Flight Tactics, focusing on the development and deployment of TAK and AI solutions for large-scale missions and events.
As a Search and Rescue Coordinator for the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, Paul Clifton introduced ATAK into the CCSO SAR unit in 2020 to improve situational awareness for sworn personnel and volunteers. He has integrated TAK in limited or denied cellphone coverage using aircraft (ADS-B), mesh radios, satellite messengers, and terrestrial radio, and has consulted for DoD contractors and large public safety agencies. Clifton served as ASARCA Board President and holds a B.S. in Economics from Texas A&M and an M.S. in Economics from the University of Virginia.
Dave Zader is a highly decorated firefighter with two medals of valor and more than 35 years across municipal and federal emergency services — structural fire, aviation, technical rescue, wildland, and large-event operations. He became involved with TAK shortly after the Granite Mountain Hotshot tragedy and has helped dozens of agencies adopt the technology. He currently serves on the IAFC Wildland Fire Policy Committee and the ICC 605 wildland interface building standards committee, and holds a B.S. in Forestry, Wildlife and Biology from Virginia Tech.
Kevin Sofen is a Technology Advisor with the International Association of Fire Chiefs, where he leads the Technology Summit International. He previously pioneered public safety innovation at W.S. Darley & Company and founded SmartFireFighting.com to promote technology and change management in the fire service. His nonprofit work includes Wristsponsible and the SDG Talks Podcast; he also teaches Developing Sustainable Strategies as an adjunct professor at DePaul University.
AJ Johansson is a 30-year fire service professional spanning federal, state, and local government. He served with the U.S. Forest Service El Cariso Hotshots and CAL FIRE before joining Corona Fire Department, where he is a Fire Captain-Paramedic. For over a decade he has deployed with Incident Management Teams overseeing the Situation Unit, and he serves on the California FIRESCOPE Emerging Information Technology committee. He holds a bachelor’s in Fire Service Administration and a master’s in Geospatial Information Technologies.
Brad Schmidt has conducted research and development into public safety applications of TAK for more than nine years at the Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting, an office of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. He now leads operational deployment as CoE Deputy Director of Spatial Projects. Previously a wildland firefighter and EMT, Brad holds a B.S. in Natural Resources Management from Colorado State University and an M.P.A. from the University of Wyoming.
Greg Albrecht is a paramedic and public safety technologist at Sensors & Signals LLC. He develops and maintains widely used open-source TAK integration tools, including PyTAK, and consults with agencies on connecting radios, aircraft, AIS, and other sensors into a common operating picture. His field work and teaching focus on making TAK practical for EMS, event medicine, and multi-agency operations.
Ralph Kohler is a TAK subject-matter expert and one of the people most closely associated with the origin and growth of the TAK ecosystem. An IEEE Fellow and former Principal Engineer / Senior Advisor at the Air Force Research Laboratory, he helped take ATAK from research into operational use across DoD, federal, and licensed civilian communities. He now volunteers with TAK Public Safety to extend that same open, practitioner-driven model into the public safety sphere.
Michelle Duquette is Founder and CEO of 3 MAD Air, an aviation consultancy focused on UAS, counter-UAS, and Advanced Air Mobility at the intersection of operations, policy, and public safety. She previously served as a Senior Principal at The MITRE Corporation, leading UAS and space operations research for FAA and DoD stakeholders. Michelle is a frequent CivTAK contributor on public safety tactical UAS and BVLOS, and advises organizations including DRONERESPONDERS.