NEC Corporation of America is looking to enhance its focus on the public safety and law enforcement sectors with a new executive appointment. The company has named Mike Lesko its Senior Director of Government Technology & Services.
Lesko’s pivot to the private sector comes after serving nearly three decades with the Texas Department of Public Safety, where he started as Deputy Assistant Director in 1991 and rose through the ranks to become Director of the Law Enforcement Support Division. According to NEC, Lesko has also served on a number of policy boards including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Advisory Policy Board (APB), the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Council, and the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, where he served as Texas SEARCH Representative.
Lesko has also served as the Chair of the AFIS Internet Board, recently renamed the “International Biometrics Association”, attesting to his familiarity with the kind of biometric technology in which NEC specializes.
In a post on LinkedIn, Law Enforcement Technology Consultant Joe Bonino attested that Lesko “is a brilliant national policy and technical leader in the broad area [of] criminal justice information services.”
In a blog post announcing Lesko’s appointment – authored by NECAM Chief Experience Officer Raffie Beroukhim – the company indicated that he will have three central focuses in his new role. One will be to strengthen NECAM’s public safety and law enforcement roadmap; another will be to represent NEC’s interests in strategically important national policy boards.
And Lesko will also be tasked with enhancing “ARS’ strategic direction of extending our services beyond identification bureaus,” the post explained. ARS refers to NEC’s “Advanced Recognition Systems” arm, which aims to promote biometric systems including the company’s sophisticated facial recognition technology.
The announcement of Lesko’s appointment arrives on the heels of NEC’s strong performance in the Department of Homeland Security’s Biometric Technology Rally.
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March 25, 2021 – by Alex Perala
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