Rob Wolf joins Auror as Senior Director of Public Safety Solutions

Public safety technology leader, Rob Wolf, has joined Auror as our first Senior Director of Public Safety Solutions. Prior to joining Auror, Rob led a company focused on building 911/CAD and RMS systems for small and mid-sized agencies. He is also the founder and former president of a software company that focused on helping manage large-scale national security events and disasters, once recognized as Microsoft Partner of the Year.

We had a chat with Rob to learn why he joined Auror and what his vision is for the community in this new role.

Can you give us an overview of your career journey?

I started my career in telecommunications with Southwestern Bell Telephone, now AT&T. Initially, I was in network engineering, designing wide area networks but quickly moved to a customer-facing sales role. I spent the last 12 months of my nearly 10 year career at Cingular Wireless at the dawn of data mobility. Blackberries were the craze along with alpha pagers and handheld data was in its infancy. Shortly after 9/11 I started my own company with a business partner focused on mobility.

In 2003, we began working on a software solution called E-Sponder that was designed to help manage large-scale, national security events and disasters. Our first deployment was the 2004 Presidential Debates at Washington University in St. Louis. Over the next decade, E-Sponder was deployed at various national security events including Presidential Debates, RNC & DNC Conventions, Super Bowls, and various other events. The company was honored with multiple awards including being Microsoft’s Partner of the Year in 2005 and a finalist in 2007. In 2011, we sold E-Sponder to NC4 and I joined the company leading Public Safety.

Working closely with the Tampa Police Department, we developed another award-winning software solution focused on crime intelligence.  While supporting national security events was very interesting and provided a front seat to history, building this filled my bucket since it was focused on solving everyday crimes and helping to protect communities.

My journey has taught me that law enforcement usually have the answers about who commits crime. Rarely does someone wake up and decide to commit a major crime for the first time and even more rare is that there's a perfect crime that can’t be solved. Instead, criminals build up over time and experience multiple encounters with law enforcement that provide key answers to solving future crimes. The answer is usually buried in technology systems that aren't built to provide easy feedback to frontline officers. My mission and passion is to enable every law enforcement agency with technology solutions that allow them to solve crimes faster and to keep every community member safe.

Can you talk more about some of the projects from your first public safety business? Any cool stories?

I will always remember the first national security event with E-Sponder. This was the 2004 Presidential Debates at Washington University - the first Presidential Debate post 9/11 and under tremendous focus from a security perspective. We worked very closely with various Federal, State, and Local authorities to ensure the protection of President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry.

Watching Air Force and Marine One land and ALL the assets that go into protecting the President was awe-inspiring. That year, we went from helping to protect the President to the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida three months later. At both events, technology proved its value and we became the go to solution for the next decade.  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and helping manage events for Presidents’ HW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush and Obama.  Regardless of any political differences, working for the President of the United States has been the greatest honor of my career.

While watching Paul McCartney perform the Super Bowl halftime show in Jacksonville was incredible, I now find my greatest joy in watching communities improve their safety. For nearly three decades the Tampa Police Department has been a leader in progressive and proactive policing building one of the safest communities in the country. Knowing the technology that I helped develop played a small role in helping millions is incredible and I want to do the same across the US.

Why Auror? Why now?

Auror is uniquely positioned to help nearly every community across the US with stopping crime. The US law enforcement market is highly fragmented with over 18,000 agencies. This fragmentation serves criminals well as they can lurk in the shadows and hit communities with little fear due to their anonymity and lack of quality data sharing across the US market. 

Unfortunately, we are also seeing massive spikes in Organized Retail Crime (ORC) across the US, where Auror is already providing critical solutions to our retail customers. US law enforcement are becoming increasingly aware that ORC is far more sophisticated than simply a teenage shoplifter, but rather is led by multi-national crime syndicates who are also perpetrating other crimes against communities, often involving violence. These crimes often go unreported to law enforcement, missing the opportunity to make an arrest. Creating solutions that allow law enforcement to quickly identify offenders and solve ORC cases creates opportunity for them to take the offender off the streets, taking away the possibility for other offenses. The result is a halo effect - lowering crime throughout the community. Working closely with our retail partners, we have the opportunity to build solutions to solve other crimes including missing or exploited children, stolen vehicles, and complex violent crimes.

What’s Rob doing for fun outside of work?

My wife and I love to travel the world and explore. If we aren’t on an adventure, we spend time with our adult children and our one-year old golden retriever, Clover. Bucket list goals are to travel to each of the US National Parks and to witness the northern lights in-person.

Read more about new members of the Auror team who are dedicated to improving public safety outcomes: Raul Aguilar Spotlight on Leadership