Employee spotlight: Emily Dworkin, Deployment Strategist

Deployment Strategists at Peregrine embed with our customers to facilitate a smooth transition to the platform. They integrate customers' data, identify their needs, and customize the product’s interface accordingly. With a deeply empathetic approach to technology, Deployment Strategists design elegant solutions to complex data modeling problems. For this role, we’re looking for curious puzzle-solvers who love a challenge, thrive in social environments, and have the technical prowess to match.  

Meet Emily 

Emily Dworkin is a Deployment Strategist at Peregrine. She joined in June 2024, bringing her data obsession and a commitment to helping people. Keep reading to learn more about Emily and her exciting work as a Deployment Strategist. 

Tell us a bit about your professional background and your journey to Peregrine 

It was very circuitous: I originally went to school for computer science but switched to psychology in my junior year. After graduating, I worked at a photo and video editing AI startup in Dallas as a software support specialist, where my obsession with data started.  

I eventually made my way from support to product management, moved to a new startup, then went back to my data roots as their Data Product Manager. During that process, I was working on my master’s in business analytics with a concentration in data science at UT Dallas remotely.  

I’ve always wanted to connect with end users and help them. And that’s where Peregrine picks up. 

What drew you to Peregrine? 

Peregrine was particularly attractive to me for two reasons: data and helping people. As a Product Manager, I wasn’t writing much code, and I wanted to flex those technical muscles and use my data skills for good. I also absolutely love police shows, so this allows me to live out my dreams vicariously through the real-life heroes I work with every day.  

What stands out about Peregrine is that it’s super mission-driven. There’s a very important distinction at Peregrine: The first thing we think about is serving our customers and their mission. Any job is going to have tedious aspects, or times when you’re tired. But then I remember this is all in the interest of public safety. It re-energizes me constantly, knowing that what I do actually matters in a very real way, as opposed to a profit margins way. There are a lot of places with good culture, but good culture plus mission is special. 

What makes a good Deployment Strategist? 

The deployment strategy role brings a beautiful mix of the technical and the interpersonal, so finding the right candidates can be difficult. We sometimes attract pure engineers who don’t want to interact with customers, or applicants who don’t want to be technical. The right person genuinely loves solving puzzles, learning new things, trying hard things, and interacting with end users and customers — both online and in person. 

In this role, you can make a lot of impact with in-person interaction. A lot of our end users don’t spend all their time on a computer, so ride-alongs are really important for gathering information. They also help build rapport. 

But it all comes back to wanting to have a positive impact on the world. Because Peregrine isn’t just law enforcement. It’s emergency management, it’s fish and wildlife, it’s parks and recreation. It’s potentially a million other verticals. 

What's a project you're particularly proud of?

One thing that warms my heart is this use case of Peregrine for officer wellness. In one city, we’ve integrated their timecard data. You can see which officers are working the most overtime, maybe overworking themselves. You can also see which officers are answering the hardest calls.  

Police departments across the country are having problems with recruiting and retention, and that’s not going to go away anytime soon. The best course of action is to try and retain people beyond pay hikes.  

What else can we do? We can help them identify which officers are closest to burnout. We help police departments operationalize a “checking in” culture, making sure their officers are well taken care of and have the time off that they need. If they have a data-based method of checking in with officers who reach a certain threshold, it makes it easier to have those conversations, and it makes the officer feel less singled out. It’s just part of the process. They know it’s time to have a check-in or take a bit of leave. It’s much more approachable. I thought that was such a sweet, wonderful way to use Peregrine.  

What makes you the most excited at Peregrine?  

I get excited to be in the office and see everyone. I work with some genuinely awesome people who enjoy helping each other. 

I’m always excited to find a block in my day to do that heads-down work — the actual writing of code — but when I wake up in the morning, I also look forward to talking to our customers. I get to work with crime analysts, command staff, and patrol officers, and it’s so interesting to learn about the things they’re working on and how we can help. 

Tell us some facts about yourself! 

I knit a lot, and I run a lot. I’ve knitted hats for some of our co-workers' young children. Sometimes I’ll knit in internal meetings; it helps me focus. I haven’t run an ultramarathon since 2019, but I’m hoping to run another this year. I really love doing things I’m bad at, and running was one of those things. We have a lot of athletes on the team — former college athletes and people who just like doing hard things.