by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 2, 2021 | Comm Center News
The Gerald R. Ford International Airport broke ground Wednesday on a $7.7 million operation center on the east side of the airfield.
The 11,600-square-foot facility will consolidate the airport’s operations and communications, including dispatch, and it will serve as the new emergency operations center (EOC). The EOC will be activated during an emergency at the airport, and it can support public safety agencies in Kent County. The second phase of the project is to expand the center to include its fire department…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 2, 2021 | Comm Center News
Citizen, the crime reporting and neighborhood watch app, says it will be granted access to the encrypted communications of at least one police department once it switches over to encrypting its radio traffic, according to an internal Citizen document obtained by Motherboard.
The news shows that beyond passively ingesting police radio traffic to then push alerts to its user base, as part of what Citizen calls “incidents,” the company will also try to enter agreements with police departments to maintain that access while the wider public is cut-off.
The document says that Citizen got confirmation that the Baltimore Police Department would work with Citizen to keep access to the department’s communications. Baltimore is planning to encrypt its radio traffic…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 2, 2021 | Comm Center News
Alexandria, VA — Today, U.S. Representatives Robin Kelly (D-IL), Norma Torres (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Peter Meijer (R-MI) introduced the Providing Resources and Occupational Training for Emotional Crisis and Trauma in 9-1-1 Act, or the ‘‘PROTECT 9-1-1 Act.” If enacted, this bipartisan legislation would establish several measures to advance health and wellness for public safety telecommunicators including: establishing a system for tracking public safety telecommunicator suicides; developing best practices to identify, prevent, and treat posttraumatic stress disorder in public safety telecommunicators; developing resources to help mental health professionals better treat these personnel; and establishing grants for health and wellness programs in emergency communications centers…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 1, 2021 | Comm Center News
The Watertown Police Department welcomed Troy VanDusen back to its staff. VanDusen will serve in the newly created role of 911 Communications Manager, a position that manages and directs all activities in Watertown’s 911 center.
VanDusen is a graduate of Watertown High School and also holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from National American University. VanDusen first joined the Watertown PD as a 911 Dispatcher in 1996. He went on to serve as a sworn police officer for the Watertown PD for more than twenty-two years. VanDusen is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy, a professional development course for U.S. and international law enforcement leaders. He was elected to the Codington County Commission in 2016 and 2020 and continues to serve as a County Commissioner. VanDusen retired from the Watertown PD as Sergeant in 2019. For the past two years, he worked as the News Director for KXLG radio…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 1, 2021 | Comm Center News
Owensboro-Daviess County 911 Director Paul Nave has seen major changes over his career in the way the dispatch center receives emergency calls.
Those changes were largely caused by advances in technology, which, paradoxically, created challenges.
“We have gone back in time, if you will,” Nave told members of the Owensboro Rotary Club on Wednesday during the club’s virtual meeting on Zoom.
In 2000, 85% to 90% of all calls to 911 were from landlines, Nave said. For dispatch, a landline provided an exact address, so dispatchers would know where to send emergency responders…
