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Jessica R. Samuel

Jessica R. Samuel
Office of the Administrator

Deputy Director, Office of Professional Responsibility

Jessica R. Samuel serves as Deputy Director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). Deputy Director Samuel oversees OPR’s investigations and mission support operations to ensure the expeditious, fair, and objective review of all allegations of misconduct and/or harassment involving FEMA personnel. In this capacity, she is responsible for ensuring allegations of reportable misconduct are documented, reviewed, and properly routed for investigation, oversight of FEMA’s Anti-Harassment Program, and is the liaison to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) for allegations of misconduct by FEMA senior leaders.

Prior to joining FEMA, Deputy Director Samuel served in several leadership positions in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Most recently, she served as the Deputy Executive Director for Mission Readiness, in the Office of Professional Responsibility, Investigative Operations Division (IOD). In this capacity, she was responsible for a variety of investigative programs to include Operations Policy, Cyber Investigations, the Joint Intake Center, the Administrative Inquiry Program, the Investigative Review Team, and Specialized Investigative Programs.

Deputy Director Samuel has served within DHS since joining the U.S. Customs Service, the predecessor to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in 2001 as an analyst in the Joint Intake Center (JIC), Office of Internal Affairs (IA) and later in the CBP IA Integrity Programs Division.  In 2012, she was promoted as the CBP JIC supervisor. and later was asked to serve in several acting positions in CBP’s OPR as the Acting Deputy Executive Director Headquarters Operations and the Acting Chief of Staff. 

Deputy Director Samuel served in the United States Army prior to serving as a Correctional Officer in the Bell County, Texas, Sheriff’s Department. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice (1999) and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration (2001), both from Chaminade University of Honolulu.