With more than 30 years of experience, Judy Pal has served in management and public relations positions for public safety, government, and the professional sports and entertainment industry in both Canada and the United States. She has been teaching media and public relations skills and serving in executive staff positions with law enforcement for more than a decade. She has extensive experience dealing with sensitive, image-threatening issues including criminal conduct of police officers, international scandal, and acts of terrorism.
A former broadcast journalist and news anchor; she has a unique understanding of the critical objectives on both sides of the camera. She is passionate about image development, media relations, crisis communications, and the use of social media; and has hosted workshops and training for public safety agencies, government services, non-profit and professional associations, and retail and business executives.
Before joining NYPD as an Assistant Commissioner serving as Advisor to the Police Commissioner, Pal was Director of Operations and an instructor for the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association (FBI-LEEDA). Prior to that, she served as Chief of Staff with the Baltimore Police Department. Previously, she served as Operations Director with Kroll Security Group where she worked with international clients, including the Government of Chile and the Trinidad & Tobago Police Service. Before joining Kroll, she was Chief of Staff with the Milwaukee Police Department in Wisconsin and served on the command staffs of the Atlanta Police Department, Savannah Chatham Metro Police and Halifax Regional Police in Canada.
Pal is credited with re-tooling the image of the largest police department in Atlantic Canada and developing innovative and award-winning marketing and communications programs. While with the Atlanta Police Department, she created and carried out a plan to regain public trust after officers shot and killed an 87-year old woman during an illegal search. She has overseen communications in many instances of crisis – including the tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta in 2008; and while with the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police spearheaded a communications campaign for precinct realignment.
Pal is a past president of the National Information Officers Association and is a former columnist with The Insighter magazine of FBI-LEEDA and Blue Line Magazine, the national law enforcement publication in Canada. She has served as an adjunct professor with Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia, Canada; as well as being an instructor with the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration in Texas.
Pal began her career in professional sports, working with the Stanley Cup-winning Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League before joining the Edmonton-based Canadian affiliate of Ogilvy-Mather as a consultant. She moved to the east coast to pursue broadcast journalism with Global Television, serving as a program host, anchor, producer, and reporter before moving to law enforcement.
Upon moving to the U.S., Ms. Pal worked with Madison Square Garden as the Public Relations Director for the Hartford Civic Center, Rentschler Field, and the minor league affiliate of the New York Rangers.
Pal holds a Masters of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University in Canada, and earned her Certificate in Police Leadership from Dalhousie University in Canada, along with various certifications in management, ICS, NIMS, deat
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