APCO International concluded the first day of the 2018 annual conference with its first general business session where members approved a resolution joining other law enforcement agencies to push for seamless interoperability of next generation 9-1-1.

At the urging of APCO President Martha Carter and Executive Director Derek Poarch, the membership approved a resolution calling for seamless interoperability as well as reconstituting a public safety alliance among APCO and fellow law enforcement associations.

APCO’s chief Counsel Jeff Cohen prepared the resolution and he and Poarch convinced the Sheriff’s Association to approve the same resolution during their June conference.

APCO will ask the Police Chiefs and Fire Chiefs associations to approve the resolution during their upcoming conferences. The goal is to add muscle to APCO’s call for the U.S. government to make seamless interoperability a reality.

Cohen defined seamless interoperability as meaning that emergency call centers could “receive emergency calls and related data from the public, then analyze and share the calls and data with other ECCs and responders in the field, regardless of jurisdiction, equipment, software, or service provider, and without costly after-the-fact integrations or proprietary fixes.”

Cohen said federal grant applications will be accepted later this year to “create proof of concept models of seamless interoperability for NG9-1-1.”

Cohen also updated members on APCO’s advocacy for emergency communications goals, including:

• Keeping wireless carriers on track to meet required accuracy improvements.
• Progress toward establishing the National Emergency Address Database. The system will help locate 9-1-1 callers inside buildings.
• Noting that wireless carriers began supplying barometric pressure data to emergency communications centers.
• Remaining focused on making sure that 9-1-1 dispatches receive dispatchable location data.
• Keeping key spectrum bands reserved for public safety communications.

APCO’s membership also heard from Margie Moulin, Director Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon (ECSO 9-1-1), about why she is the candidate for APCO International’s second vice president.

Moulin said that her career in public safety communications – including serving in numerous positions within the association – has inspired her to strive to assist APCO with challenges related to staffing, education, training and technology.

She noted that APCO’s mission is to provide professional development, advocacy and outreach to benefit members and the public.

“Our mission encompasses all of these challenges, and I believe our membership includes the expertise to successfully navigate and improve our service to those in need,” she said.

Joining Carter on the executive committee were Holly Wayt, first vice president, Tracey Hilburn, second vice president, and Cheryl Greathouse, immediate past president.