Michelle Potts began her law enforcement career in 1992 with the Tempe Police Department as a high school business intern. In 1996 she moved into the field of emergency communications, serving as a 9-1-1 operator, dispatcher and communications shift supervisor, until moving to the Arizona State University Police Department in 2008 to oversee their communications division. Michelle has served as the Communications Manager for the Chandler Police Department’s Emergency Communications Center since 2011.
Her education includes a Bachelor’s in Organizational Studies from Arizona State University, a Master of Administration in Public Management from Northern Arizona University, and a Master of Arts in Security Studies – Homeland Security and Defense – from the Naval Postgraduate School. She is also a graduate from Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command.
Michelle participates in various regional and national industry groups. She currently serves as the chair of the Maricopa Region Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Managers Group through the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), a regional group of 26 member agencies responsible for technology, governance, budget, education and outreach for the Maricopa region. She also serves as the state president for the Motorola Trunked Users Group (MTUG). This group brings together public safety and Motorola trunked radio system users to promote the development and education of Motorola radio products, a critical life safety technology for first responders. Michelle serves as the chair of a regional technology working group tasked with exploring emerging technology, regional feasibility and operational implications.
The vision of the Chandler Police ECC is to transition from a 9-1-1 center into a multi-channel emergency communications center capable of accepting the most contemporary communication channels of today. The goal of this multi-channel environment is to build a resilient and adaptable ECC that provides a more comprehensive emergency response to our community and first responders through effective, timely decision making, situational awareness, risk management, resource allocation, and quality information.