MANATEE COUNTY, FL (Jan. 28, 2020) – Manatee County Commissioners today unanimously confirmed the appointment of Jacob Saur as the County's new Public Safety Director. Saur previously served as the County's Emergency Communications chief and has worked for the County since 2001.
"As our former Emergency Communications Center chief, Jake championed multiple projects, along the way positioning Manatee County as a leader in the public safety industry," said County Administrator Cheri Coryea. "He has a reputation for innovation and growth. He consistently rises to the challenge."
Commissioners praised Saur's calm, even demeanor and his career history of rising through the ranks at Public Safety.
"I am extremely excited to fill the position as the next Public Safety Director for Manatee County," Saur said. "I'm a second generation Manatee County resident, so growing up here it always seemed like a natural fit to work for our county. I have worked most of my adult life for Public Safety and am very excited for opportunity and challenge ahead for both myself and the Public Safety team."
In addition to Emergency Communications (9-1-1) Manatee County Public Safety consists of Animal Services, Beach Patrol, Community Paramedicine, Emergency Management and Emergency Medical Services.
Jacob started his career as a volunteer EMT with Manatee County EMS Auxiliary in 1999. He was hired as a paramedic in 2001. Jacob progressed through the rank to Lieutenant in the Training Division of EMS, and then District Chief of Operations. After a long-vested career in Paramedic Operations for EMS he was promoted to Deputy Chief of Manatee County EMS. As the Deputy Chief, he was assigned to many duties within Public Safety.
When the opening for Chief of the Emergency Communications Center became available in Public Safety, Jacob was asked to serve as Interim Chief for the center and after a national recruitment he was selected as permanent chief to head of the division in 2016.
During his tenure as Chief of Emergency Communications Jacob had spearheaded technology improvements including: Text to 9-1-1, ASAP to PSAP protocol, the PulsePoint response application, and established the Next Generation 9-1-1 call handling solution for Manatee County.
In 2019, Jacob was a guest speaker for two national conferences for public safety officials regarding technology and leadership. He will address the U.S. House of Representatives regarding public safety and 9-1-1 communications in February during a national conference in Washington D.C.
Jacob was elected to the executive board of the National Emergency Number Association, Florida Chapter as the 2nd Vice President for 2020. Jacob holds the national designation of Registered Public Safety Leader from the Association of Public Safety Communication Officials and has applied to complete his capstone project to obtain Certified Public Safety Executive in 2020.
Jacob is a certified paramedic in the State of Florida and certified Emergency Number Professional from the National Emergency Number Association. Jacob is a 2017 graduate of Leadership Manatee from the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.
For more information on Manatee County Government, visit www.mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. You can also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/manatee.county.fl and on Twitter, @ManateeGov.