BOLDplanning Customer Showcase: Maricopa County, AZ

Maricopa County Chooses BOLDplanning

The Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management (MCDEM) diligently works behind the scenes to provide ongoing planning to prevent and prepare for large-scale emergencies. The department, which currently staffs 16 employees, performs a variety of essential public safety functions on a daily basis.

Like so many other emergency management operations across the country, MCDEM found the task of writing and maintaining the county’s continuity and emergency operations plans time consuming and labor intensive. To ease the burden and speed the process, department officials turned to BOLDplanning, a division of Preparis, for help.

BOLDplanning followed its proven consulting process to develop detailed COOP and EOP plans. The BOLDplanning online platform was customized to meet the specific planning needs of the Maricopa Region, and was deployed online.

Today, MCDEM continues to rely on the company’s expert staff and web-based planning platform to prepare, test, and update numerous jurisdictional plans across the county, including those for Mesa, Scottsdale, and Buckeye.

Maricopa County and our jurisdictional partners’ commitment and capability to ensure effective continuity of operations to deliver essential services during potential periods of disruption is not possible without BOLDplanning.

Through their planning expertise and training, our Maricopa Region has developed over two hundred departmental level COOPs and EOPs, resulting in exceptional readiness to a region of around four million residents.

Rudolfo Perez, Emergency Services Planner, Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management

Emergency Management in Maricopa County

Maricopa County, Arizona is home to approximately four million people, and is the fourth largest county in the United States. Its county seat/capital, Phoenix, is also the fifth largest city in the country.

Maricopa County spans over 9,200 square miles, and borders six other counties—Gila, La Paz, Pinal, Yavapai, Yuma, and the second most populated county in the state, Pima. According to the county’s Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, several major roadways, including interstates 10, 17, and 8, support both local and regional transportation needs in Maricopa County. And, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, located in central Phoenix, is one of the busiest air travel facilities in the United States.

Law enforcement is provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), as well as local police departments for all 24 cities and towns, including Phoenix and Tempe. Fire and emergency medical services are supplied by numerous fire departments, both metro and rural, which are spread throughout the county. Together, emergency managers and first responders keep those who live, work in, and visit the county safe.