Derrick Walker arrives from North Dakota with background in emergency communications
Derrick Walker, a self-diagnosed “workaholic,“ started Thursday as the new director of the Durango-La Plata 911 Emergency Communications Center. Walker plans to address turnover and technology upgrades within the center as his first items of business. [He] is stepping in as director of the Durango-La Plata Emergency Communications Center – and he says he has the servant’s heart, “workaholic” mindset and know-how to bring the center up to speed. Walker, who has worked in emergency communications for more than 15 years, is the center’s third director in the past year. He is arriving on the job with two main assignments: address the center’s staffing turnover and upgrade its technology, according to the city of Durango…
MANHATTAN, KS (KSNT)–The Riley County Police Department experienced technical issues with their phone lines. They were down from around 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. this afternoon.
The non-emergency line was down, along with the 9-1-1 emergency number. This has happened a couple of times before with the emergency line, but the non-emergency number has never been an issue for RCPD.
“When you can’t get through to the non-emergent line and the 911 line is down obviously if people are calling in for emergencies that’s going to create some problems,” Aaron Wintermote, with the Riley County Police Department, said…
By Randy Kerr, Situational Awareness Roadmap Domain Lead, First Responder Network Authority
As the only nationwide broadband network dedicated to public safety, FirstNet gives first responders access to unique features such as priority, preemption, and quality of service. Primary users on FirstNet – including those working in law enforcement, the fire service, emergency medical services, emergency communications, and emergency management – have priority and preemption access to the network, even in times of extreme congestion. These features are always on and do not require any action from public safety, which allows them to stay focused on the mission at hand. READ FULL ARTICLE
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — Bouquets of blooming flowers and messages of support line the counter at Jeffcom 911, the dispatch center that handled last Monday’s radio traffic during a deadly officer-involved shooting in Arvada.
The U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded $2,988,950 in a new round of funding for new interoperable communication systems for public safety. Initially funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), through its Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program, Catalyst Communications Technologies of Forest, Virginia, was provided this Phase III SBIR award for commercialization of its interoperable communications solution.
S&T previously provided Phase I and Phase II SBIR funding to Catalyst to develop interworking solutions for land mobile radio (LMR) and long-term evolution (LTE) communication systems for public safety. Catalyst established a roadmap for effective interworking during Phase I and is just now concluding Phase II work building prototypes for a variety of LMR systems and a public safety-grade dispatch console that seamlessly supports both LMR and LTE…
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.
