Public Information Officer

The mission of the Public Information Office is to foster communication between the Darien Police Department, its employees, the community, and the media by providing accurate information about the Department and its community policing effort. We provide accurate and timely information - both internally and externally - about the operations and personnel of the Darien Police Department.

Darien Police Public Information Officers are the principal points of contact between the department and the news media.

In 2003 the Secretary of Homeland Security developed the National Incident Management System, or NIMS. NIMS provides for interoperability and compatibility among all responders to an emergency.

One of NIMS management structures is Public Information Systems. The purpose of this includes communicating timely and accurate information to the public during emergency situations.

The Public Information Officer (PIO) is a key member of the NIMS command staff. The PIO is responsible for interfacing with the public and media and/or with other agencies with incident-related information requirements. The PIO develops accurate and complete information on the incident's cause, size and current situation; resources committed; and other matter of general interest for both internal and external consumption.

The PIO is the main source of communications including: development of message content such as incident facts, health risk concerns, pre-incident and post-incident preparedness recommendations, warnings issued, incident information, messages, audiences, and strategies for when, where, how, and by whom the messages will be delivered.