Operations
Comm Center Mergers
November 22, 2011Although it may appear obvious that amalgamating dispatch centers will have cost savings, achieving success is difficult and knowledge based. Asking the right questions early in the process and applying the right models to determine workloads and staffing models are necessary to achieving real savings and not simply redistributing money between different levels of government.
Read full articleLautenberg Announces Nearly $200 Million for Cops Program in Final Appropriations Bill
November 18, 2011U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today announced that President Barack Obama will sign $198 million into law for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program. $166 million of that funding will be used for grants to hire and retain police officers in communities around the country. The funding comes from the joint House and Senate minibus conference report, which includes the final version of the Fiscal Year 2012 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) appropriations bill that was approved in Congress yesterday.
Read full articleTelecommunicator Spotlight: 3 Decades of Dispatching & Cindy Cielock Is Still Loving It
November 18, 2011“I love the adrenalin rush when there is a hot call. I enjoy the stress of it all. I like the hot call, and I like a successful conclusion,” Cindy Cielock says about her job as a public safety dispatcher for Onondaga 9-1-1 in Syracuse, N.Y. The area comprises 827,000 square miles with 600 deputies and 450 Syracuse police officers. Cielock has lived in Syracuse her entire life.
Read full articleTelecommunicator Spotlight: Medler’s Assistance to Others Elicits Indescribable Good Feeling
November 2, 2011Kelli Medler is passionate about her work. “I have a lot of respect for all the officers I work with,” she says. Would she repeat her career path to end up where she is today? “Hands down, definitely, I would be here,” she says. And, it appears she is here to stay.
Read full articleManage Your Risk: Defensible Hiring & Management Practices
October 27, 2011By Charles D. Carter
In 1991, I was in New York City to conduct a course for 9-1-1 instructors. After I entered the building at One Police Plaza, my host pointed to a courtroom just off the lobby. He said it was used for nothing but settling lawsuits against NYC police officers. How terrible that so many allegations of wrongdoing by police exist that they need their own courtroom with a judge dedicated to nothing but cases against those sworn to protect and serve.
Read full articleJohnson County Emergency Comm Center Is Environmentally Friendly & Functional
September 16, 2011With an increasing push toward green technology and design, a Kansas-based comm center has set a gold standard—not only with…
Read full articlePete Piringer: Public Safety’s Pinnacle of Professionalism
September 15, 2011For Pete Piringer, the National Capitol Region has been an exciting place to work and establish his public safety career. His roles have been varied in several localities but throughout them all, he has become a well known communications professional in the region. “I like being a public servant. I guess it goes back to the days of dispatching and volunteering. I’m blessed,” Piringer said.
Read full articleNationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative
September 1, 2011Every day, law enforcement officers at all levels of government—state, local, tribal and federal—observe suspicious behaviors or receive reports from concerned civilians, private security and other government agencies about behaviors that could have a potential nexus to terrorism. Until recently, this information was generally stored at the local level and shared within the agency—or, at the most, regionally shared—as part of an incident reporting system. Enter the Nationwide SAR Initiative.
Read full articleJames City County Honors 2 Telecommunicators for Lifesaving CPR Instructions
August 25, 2011JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va., Aug. 17, 2011 — What did you do today? How did you make a difference in someone’s life? James City County recently honored two public safety communications officers for their excellent work in providing lifesaving CPR instructions.
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How to Avoid Divisiveness in the Comm Center
November 9, 2011I have been talking about the “Us vs. Them” mentality between patrol and communications a lot lately. I was thinking…
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