When we are in crisis, we expect to be able to pick up the phone, call 911, and get help. However, too many in our region have experienced the gut-wrenching moment when that help doesn’t answer or takes too long to arrive. Some, mistrustful of our policing system, choose not to call 911 to begin with.
Despite its shortcomings, 911 is the system that we are taught to rely upon. Of the more-than 61 million interactions Americans had with police in 2018, more than half (about 57%) were the result of resident-initiated requests for police services. The emergency call number is the front door into our criminal justice system. But it is a neglected portal whose dysfunction is symptomatic of shortcomings found throughout our public safety system…
Instead of dispatching armed police officers, Akron officials are exploring the possibility of a civilian response to 911 calls that involve non-violent disputes, mental health crises and more.
City Council’s Reimagining Public Safety Committee dedicated an hour last week to the idea that trained social service and mental health care workers — working with police or on their own — could mediate better outcomes while freeing up officers to focus limited time and resources on priority calls and criminal investigations.
While nothing formal has been proposed, the head of the police union says someone will get hurt with this “warm and fuzzy way to defund the police.” Proponents argue that culturally competent civilians with ties to the community could serve as “credible messengers” who help to break the cycle of addiction and homelessness. And other cities have been doing this for months or even decades with no tragic outcomes…
Indianapolis, IN – After more than 20 years of faithful service to the state of Indiana, Telecommunications Operator Donna Schultz has retired.
Donna is a native of Louisville Kentucky and a 1976 graduate of Dupont Manual High School. She began her career with the Indiana State Police June 4, 2001 as a telecommunications operator at the Sellersburg Post. In 2009 she moved to central Indiana and transferred her position to the Indianapolis Post where she has served since.
After a 14-year-old girl in Parkland called 911 because her mother was not breathing, Telecommunications Supervisor Melissa Ayers instructed the teen how to perform CPR — saving the life of her mother.
Because of Ayers’s successful lifesaving efforts, on September 9, 2021, the Florida Department of Health’s Emergency Medical Service Section selected her as the Telecommunicator of the Year.
On April 30, 2020, Ayers answered the 911 call. After receiving basic information about the type of emergency, she instructed the teen to perform CPR, encouraging her to continue doing compressions several times throughout the call… READ MORE
CRESA is accepting applications for 911 Call Taker Dispatcher Trainee
Posting opens: August 18, 2021
Posting closes: September 30, 2021
If you know of anyone who might be interested in applying for the position, please forward this notification. Here is a link to the 911 Communications Call Taker Dispatcher Trainee job on our careers site: https://www.applicantpro.com/openings/cressa911/jobs/1937699 …
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
