The Gwinnett County Office of Emergency Management is a unit of the Gwinnett County Police Department that handles a variety of tasks involving planning for emergencies and disasters, responding to incidents as a coordinating agency, directing mitigation against hazards, and assisting Gwinnett County Government and its residents in recovery after an incident. The Office of Emergency Management works very closely with all Gwinnett County departments, private/nonprofit partners, and city municipalities to accomplish these goals.

On June 8, 2020, the Gwinnett County Office of Emergency Management was granted accreditation by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program. Gwinnett County OEM is the first county in the state of Georgia to achieve this prestigious honor.

To achieve accreditation, applicants must demonstrate through self-assessment, documentation, and peer-assessed verification that its program meets the Emergency Management Accreditation Program’s Emergency Management Standard. Accreditation requires full compliance with all 73 standards. Emergency management programs use this accreditation to prove the capabilities of their disaster preparedness and response systems. Accreditation is valid for five years.

The EMAP standards help revolutionize emergency management programs that coordinate preparedness and response activities for disasters. The standards have also provided a framework to improve service delivery to the residents and visitors of Gwinnett County.

EMAP is an independent non-profit organization governed by a twelve-member commission. It was formed in 2002 and is recognized by the American National Standard Institute as a Standard Developing Organization. Accredited programs include federal, state, and local governments, tribal nations, and institutes of higher education.

Vision Statement:

The Vision of the Office of Emergency Management is to encourage and foster a Disaster Resistant Community.

Mission Statement:

The Mission of the Office of Emergency Management is to administer a community wide comprehensive emergency management program in partnership with all departments, agencies, operating units, administration and neighboring jurisdictions to save lives, protect property and safeguard the environment.

Values Statement:

1. Commitment: We are dedicated to constantly improving our emergency management program to meet the highest standards and ensure the safety of our community.
2. Collaboration: We believe in working closely with all stakeholders, including government agencies and private/nonprofit partners, to achieve our goals together.
3. Integrity: We uphold high ethical standards in all our actions, ensuring transparency, accountability, and trust in our operations.
4. Excellence: We strive for excellence in all aspects of our work, from planning and preparedness to response and recovery efforts, to provide the best service possible to the residents and visitors of Gwinnett County.

The Gwinnett County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is managed and maintained by the Gwinnett County Office of Emergency Management. An EOC is a central location from which local governments can provide interagency coordination and executive decision making in support of incident response and recovery operations. The purpose of the EOC is to provide a centralized location where public safety, emergency response, and support agencies coordinate planning, preparedness, and response activities.

The EOC does not command or control on-scene response efforts, but does carry out the coordination functions through:

1. Collecting, evaluating, and disseminating incident information
2. Analyzing jurisdictional impacts and setting priority actions
3. Managing requests, procurement, and use of resources 

The decisions made through the EOC are designed to be broad in scope and offer general guidance on priorities. Information is disseminated through the EOC manager and tactical decisions are coordinated from field response personnel.