Sixteen public safety agencies have met or exceeded the minimum training standards for the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International Agency Training Program certification (P33) and the recipients will be recognized during the Food for Thought Luncheon on August 19, 2015 at APCO’s Annual Conference in Washington, DC.

Public safety agencies use APCO’s Agency Training Program certification as a formal mechanism to certify their training programs in meeting APCO American National Standards (ANS). Initial and continuing training for public safety telecommunicators is important as they provide essential services to the public in an expanding and rapidly changing public safety environment.

The agencies that will be recognized are:

• Charlottesville/UVA/Albemarle Emergency Communications Center, Charlottesville, VA
• Derry Fire Department, Derry, NH
• Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon, Central Point, OR
• Fairfax County, Virginia Department of Public Safety Communications, Fairfax, VA
• Hamilton County Emergency Communications District, Chattanooga, TN
• Hartford Police Emergency Communications Center, Hartford, WI
• Idaho State Police, Coeur d’Alene, ID
• Lancaster County-Wide Communications, Manheim, PA
• Montgomery County Department of Public Safety, Emergency Communications Division, Eagleville, PA
• Northwest Central Dispatch System, Arlington Heights, IL
• Orange County Emergency Communications Center, Orange, VA
• Regional Emergency Dispatch Authority, Artesia, NM
• Southwest Central Dispatch, Palos Heights, IL
• Spokane County 911, Spokane, WA
• Tompkins County Department of Emergency Response, Ithaca, NY
• Valley Communications Center, Kent, WA

John Wright, president of APCO International, said, “There are few things that an agency can do that demonstrates their commitment to safeguarding the public that are more essential than training their emergency communications personnel to a nationally recognized standard.  Attaining APCO’s Agency Training Program Certification is proof of that commitment and testament to the agency’s investment in providing high quality training to meet that goal.”

For more information about APCO’s Agency Training Program certification process, please visit www.apcointl.org/p33 for details.

APCO International® (www.apcointl.org)

APCO International is the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.