Archive
Causing a Hang-Up Is a Crime
January 19, 2011Oklahoma City — Hanging up on 9-1-1 operators is a crime in Oklahoma, and so is interfering with someone else’s efforts to make an emergency call. It’s a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $4,000 and a year in jail.
Read full articleYakima County Agencies to Share Information Using Spillman
January 18, 2011Yakima, Wash — Public safety agencies in Yakima County have adopted new software from Spillman Technologies, allowing them to share data and fight crime across jurisdictional boundaries.
Read full articleAPCO Applauds Pima County Sheriff’s Communications
January 18, 2011Daytona Beach, Fla. — The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International applauds actions taken by the Pima County, Arizona Sheriff’s Communications team in handling of the emergency calls surrounding the incident in Tucson on January 8, 2011where Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others were attacked by a gunman.
Read full articleZetron Celebrates 30 Years of Excellence in Mission-Critical Communications
January 18, 2011Redmond, Wash. — Zetron is holding an event to celebrate 30 years of operation Jan. 19, 2011, at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The event will highlight the company’s evolution over time, its reputation for excellence with customers and distributors, and its directions moving forward.
Read full articleDakota County 9-1-1 Dispatchers Have Helped Deliver Seven Babies in the Past Year
January 18, 2011Minneapolis — As an emergency dispatcher for more than 25 years, Diane Lind of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office never had to help deliver a baby by phone. But, as the supervisor of the Dakota County Communications Center, Lind has experienced a population explosion of baby delivery assistance calls made by her dispatchers.
Read full articleVallejo, Benicia Won’t Combine 9-1-1 Dispatchers
January 18, 2011Vallejo, Calif. — Vallejo and Benicia public safety departments have decided against consolidating their dispatch centers, officials said. The plan would have resulted in a six-fold increase in the volume of fire calls routed to Benicia dispatchers, Benicia police officials said in August. Benicia gets about 2,000 calls annually; Vallejo, 12,000.
Read full articleFederal Communications Commission Releases Agenda for Jan. 26 Narrowbanding Workshop
January 18, 2011The Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) today released the agenda for a workshop on VHF/UHF narrowbanding to assist licensees in completing the transition to narrowband radio communications by January 1, 2013. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305).
Read full articleRequests for Waiver of Various Petitioners to Allow the Establishment of 700 MHz Interoperable Public Safety Wireless Broadband Networks
January 18, 2011The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) approved an initial set of technical requirements for public safety jurisdictions (Petitioners) that were granted conditional waivers by the Commission for early deployment in the 700 MHz public safety broadband spectrum.
Read full articleAMBER Alert Program Expands to Facebook
January 14, 2011Effective Jan. 12, Facebook users are able to sign up to receive AMBER Alert bulletins for their state which will be sent to them through the Facebook “News Feed” feature. A total of 53 new AMBER Alert Pages have been created, one for each state, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. Facebook users will also be able to share the AMBER Alerts with their friends.
Read full articleShots Fired!
January 14, 2011“He’s still shooting inside. Shots fired! Shots fired!” — Vail, Colo., an energetic, low-crime resort town, population 4,700, hadn’t had a murder since 1979. That changed on Nov. 7, 2009. The Vail Public Safety Communications Center found itself handling an active shooter incident just six months after its employees had completed an APCO Active Shooter class. Vail dispatch is a small, proactive communications center that tries to stay on the cutting edge of training.
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