By Richard Goldstein

The APCO 2019 Distinguished Achievers Breakfast on Tuesday morning in the Baltimore Convention Center recognized agencies and people who have completed accreditation and certification from APCO and partner organizations.

It also featured FCC Chairman Ajit Pai discussing the agency’s advances in public safety communications, and Super Bowl-winning former Baltimore head coach Brian Billick discussing the essential ingredients for making teams work together.

FirstNet Authority Chair Edward D. Horowitz began by announcing the latest roadmap for FirstNet priorities, compiled with the input of thousands of first responders. The roadmap, which can be downloaded at https://www.firstnet.gov/network/roadmap, is written to provide “a view of public safety’s operational needs and technology trends for mobile broadband communications over the next five years.”

Horowitz noted FirstNet’s strides during the year, including more than 9,000 agencies and 750,000 subscribers on the network. Meanwhile, devices and apps designed for use with FirstNet are multiplying.

“We are seeing a whole ecosystem that people have dreamt about for years and years,’’ Horowitz said. “Advancing FirstNet to meet the future needs of public safety is going to take public and private stakeholders continuing to work together.”

APCO International Executive Director & CEO Derek Poarch was joined by members of the APCO executive committee to recognize corporate supporters of APCO, including Platinum Corporate Partners FirstNet built with AT&T and Motorola Solutions.

Graduates of APCO’s leadership programs walked across the convention center stage to accept their certificates after graduating from APCO’s Registered Public-Safety Leader (RPL) Program and APCO’s Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE) Program. Since 2007, Poarch said, more than 300 have earned the right to place RPL designations after their names, and the CPE program, which began in 2014, produced its 100^th graduate this year.

APCO representatives also recognized agencies that earned the Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) certification and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) partnerships.

FCC chairman Pai described new rules requiring that callers using centralized call systems such as those in offices or hotels need not dial a prefix for an outside line when dialing 9-1-1. He also said the FCC is pressing carriers to meet the November 30 deadline for improving the geographical accuracy of within 0.1 mile for targeted emergency alerts.

Pai expressed support for the 911 Saves Act, now wending its way through Congress, that would change the classification of public safety telecommunicators from administrative support to Protective Service Occupations. “The time has come to fix this mistake,” Pai said to applause.

Brian Billick delivered the keynote for the breakfast by offering ideas and anecdotes about how his experience of 40 years in the NFL could be applied in more typical workplace settings.

Billick said the issues boiled down to personnel, structure and chemistry or “who, what and why.”

Billick noted that the NFL has a lot of personnel turnover. He said the head coach and a new player must form a partnership to accomplish their goals. And Billick said that happens when leaders show they care about the people following them.

Billick stressed that strong organizations include people committed to the organization. He illustrated the point with a bacon and egg breakfast: “The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.” Billick said an organization needs a certain number of pigs to excel, people who will sacrifice and bring others along to accomplish the mission. Billick also noted that a good player or employee follows, but not blindly. There were two kinds of players he didn’t want on his team: “The player who can’t do what he’s told and the player who can only do what he’s told.”

He said if employees believe in the mission and their leaders then the organization will succeed. “You’re going to be standing up wherever you are holding the equivalent of your Super Bowl ring,” he declared.