The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) developed the Richard DeMello Award in 2006. NPSTC plans to grant this award annually and present it at the Radio Club of America (RCA) Annual Awards Banquet to an individual in public safety communications who has demonstrated the highest levels of personal and professional conduct and performance in the local, state and national public safety communications arena. The DeMello Award was created to honor the achievement of Richard DeMello, one of the founding fathers of NPSTC and a member of the RCA. DeMello was instrumental in bringing all of the frequency coordinators together to form NPSTC.

Thanks to EADS Secure North America Networks for their generous support of this year’s award. NPSTC’s Governing Board also thanks RCA and past DeMello sponsors for their generous support: Ericsson, Motorola, and GEOCOMM. NPSTC presents this year's DeMello Award to Don Root. Past DeMello Award winners were Chief Harlin McEwen (2006), John Powell (2007), and Chief Charles Werner (2008).

Richard Stone DeMello dedicated a lifetime of work to public safety communications needs on city, state, and national levels. He was known for his dedication, warmth and sense of humor, and leadership on behalf of public safety telecommunications.

Dick DeMello, a man devoted to his family and his religion, passed away at his home in Portland, Michigan in June 2002. His favorite food was lobster and his favorite leisure activities, traveling and canoeing with his wife Julie.

A registered professional engineer, Dick DeMello was born in Massachusetts and moved to Michigan in 1968. He worked for the state government for 32 years, retiring in April 2000 from the Telecommunications Division of the Department of Natural Resources. He was a director-at-large for the Forestry Conservation Communication Association, the 700 MHz Regional Planning Committee (RPC) Chair for Region 21, Michigan, a Life Member of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials – International (APCO), and a member of the Radio Club of America. Dick received his first ham license at the age of 14, call sign – K1CYL.

Marilyn Ward, Executive Director, NPSTC, says that DeMello was instrumental in bringing all of the frequency coordinators together in NPSTC. “Richard believed that we should continue the work of PSWAC and develop a broader group of all levels and disciplines of public safety to work on consensus agreements on FCC filings," Ms. Ward said. "He remained a steady guiding force as NPSTC matured from its infancy into a mature consensus body.”