NCR Chapter
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Leadership
Michael Lighthiser
LEDA Instructor | LEDA Steering Team Member | LEDA NCR Chapter President
Deputy Chief Michael Lighthiser commands the Special Operations, Research and Training Division of the George Mason University Police Department, which houses the UAS Unit. Deputy Chief Lighthiser has served with the department since January 2008 and is a graduate of the Northwestern School of Police Staff and Command.
Deputy Chief Lighthiser is the chair of the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS) UAS working group, sits on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments UAS group, and helped found the statewide UAS working group in Virginia, supported by Governor Youngkin's administration. Deputy Chief Lighthiser is on the Law Enforcement Drone Association Steering Committee and the DRONERESPONDERS Advisory Board.
Megan Descalzi
LEDA NCR Chapter Vice President
Megan Descalzi is a Crime Laboratory Technician at the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), where she documents and processes crime scenes of varying degrees. Since starting at BPD in 2019, Ms. Descalzi has been working on implementing drones into the Crime Scene Unit to assist in documenting crime scenes through aerial photography and 2D mapping/3D modeling.
Ms. Descalzi is also a part-time drone pilot with George Mason University Police Department, which has allowed her to expand her skillset and knowledge with various types of drone platforms and drone missions. Ms. Descalzi earned her FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification in 2022, and has since received a proctor certification and proficiency evaluation through the Airborne Public Safety Association (APSA) for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sUAS test methods.
Lt. Mark Kaylor
LEDA NCR Chapter Secretary
Lt. Kaylor is currently assigned as a Patrol Shift Commander. He has been with the Sheriff's Office since 1997. Lt. Kaylor serves as a Hostage Negotiator, a Search Manager, an instructor at the academy, and a CIT instructor.
In 2017, the agency started its UAS function and Lt. Kaylor was one of the initial pilots. He has since moved on to be the UAS Coordinator. Lt. Kaylor has collaborated with the surrounding counties to provide joint training opportunities as well as mutual aid. Lt. Kaylor sits on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments UAS and HNT groups. Lt. Kaylor is also a part of the Maryland Law Enforcement UAS working group.
Lt. Mark Kaylor
LEDA NCR Chapter Treasurer
Lieutenant Mohammed Tabibi is the Assistant Commander of Tactical Operations Section, which houses the UAS Unit. Lieutenant Tabibi has served with the department since September 2003 and on the Arlington Public Safety UAS Team since 2023.
Lieutenant Tabibi has coordinated and managed many large-scale events involving UAS deployments.