Williamson County Director of Public Safety Bill Jorgensen retires this week after serving his fellow citizens for 35 years and advancing the county’s public safety initiatives during decades of unprecedented growth.
Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson says, “Bill’s leadership style and ability to foster and strengthen relationships is second to none. While providing support and promoting internal growth for his team, Bill has played a significant role in building a successful Public Safety Department that is also second to none. He has laid a solid foundation for those who will follow behind him, and Williamson County is fortunate to have been the recipient of his outstanding servant leadership.”
Jorgensen began his public safety career right out of high school as a volunteer firefighter with the Williamson County Rescue Squad, where he served for 11 years and earned numerous certifications in firefighting and emergency services.
He began working for the county government in 1989, when he was hired as a 911 telecommunicator. “The process was much different then,” Jorgensen said. “Nothing was integrated. Each city had its own dispatch center, which sometimes was one person. Phones were all land lines, of course, and there was no automated GPS, so responders really needed to know the roads in the area.”
Jorgensen was promoted to 911 Communications Manager in 1991, and he oversaw the consolidation of the dispatch centers for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office and Fairview Police Department. At the time, the dispatch center was located in the basement of the county administration building on West Main Street. In 1999, the Williamson County Department of Emergency Communications was created, with Jorgensen becoming the director.
During his tenure, Jorgensen has represented Williamson County on a variety of local, regional and state boards and committees, including three years as the Chairman of the Nashville Area Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Homeland Security Communications Committee, and he currently sits on the Williamson County Opioid Task Force, Williamson County Joint Communications Network Authority, Williamson County Fair Board and various federal and state emergency communication committees.
He was instrumental with the Public Safety Task Force implemented by Mayor Anderson in 2009 to continue long-term strategic planning for emergency services across the county. During the task force’s tenure, in May 2010, the county experienced a catastrophic flood that brought 13 inches of rain in two days and breached the 911 dispatch center. This expedited the mayor’s desire to further improve the county’s emergency planning and response.
In 2011 the county created the Office of Public Safety and Jorgensen was named director, overseeing the county’s Emergency Management Agency, 911 Emergency Communications, which answers calls for 14 agencies including law enforcement and fire for Franklin, Spring Hill, Nolensville, Fairview and Williamson County, animal control and Williamson Health EMS; and the County’s interest in fire and EMS services.
The task force recommended a consolidated public safety center, and construction began in 2015 on county land off Beasley Drive in Franklin on a $25M state of the art, mission-critical facility to serve the community as the emergency operations center and 911 dispatch. The facility also fills the critical administrative and training needs of emergency services.
Under Jorgensen’s leadership, the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency became the first local government agency in Tennessee to receive national accreditation, and the county has increased its support of the fire and EMS service through annual apparatus replacement, emergency services station additions and full-time county staff to support the volunteer fire system.
He also managed the development of a P25 700MHz joint countywide public safety radio system between Williamson County including the cities of Brentwood, Franklin and Nashville that the entire county uses to provide more efficient communications between all public safety agencies. Additionally, he managed the successful consolidation of Franklin City and Spring Hill 911 dispatch centers with Williamson County.
Mayor Anderson has appointed Connor Scott as the new Public Safety Director, a Williamson County native who has spent more than 20 years working as a first responder, emergency manager and public safety leader in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Jorgensen’s last day in the office will be July 12. He remains active in the amateur radio community and looks forward to maintaining his honeybee hives at his home in the Boston community and spending time with his wife, their adult children and grandchildren. If you have worked with Bill over the years, you are welcome to attend his retirement reception Wednesday, July 10 from 2-4 PM at the Public Safety Center, 304 Beasley Drive.
For interviews, contact EMA External Affairs Officer Jill Burgin at [email protected]. For more information about Williamson County Public Safety and to register for the Williamson County Emergency Alert System, visit www.williamsonready.org.
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