OSSIPEE — Between September and November 2025, more than 70 emergency dispatchers from across New Hampshire participated in a new statewide initiative to strengthen mental health response skills for 911 personnel. The full-day, in-person trainings were offered in Moultonborough (Sept. 24), Concord (Oct. 22), and Derry (Nov. 5), and were led by Forge Health’s Veterans & First Responders Program.
Callers to Akron Police Department’s non-emergency line might already have interacted with the department’s newest piece of technology — an AI-powered virtual assistant named Ava.
Ava’s job is to route callers to the right division — the traffic unit or the detective bureau, for example — and collect important information for dispatchers to relay to officers. But Ava isn’t alone. It’s reinforced by trained dispatchers reviewing the information to ensure it’s complete and accurate.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — An outside investigation has identified significant problems with the human resources operations at the Metropolitan Department of Emergency Communications (DEC), and Mayor Freddie O’Connell has placed its director, Steve Martini, on administrative leave.
Attorney Luther Wright, of Ogletree Deakins, investigated at the request of the city after concerns were raised by DEC employees, including a sexual harassment complaint filed by 911 dispatcher Hannah McGuire.
SPOKANE, Wash. – Mayor Lisa Brown has appointed Stephen Williams as the new Director of Emergency Communications to lead the development of Spokane’s new emergency communications center, the Spokane United 911 Network (SUN).
Reliable mission critical communications (MCC) is the gold standard for any public safety agency. In plain language, reliable MCC translates into voice, video, and data communications that must get through no matter how chaotic the incident scene is. In fact, the more chaotic it is, the more reliable MCC matters to first responders. This is why FirstNet, the nationwide wireless broadband service dedicated to public safety, was created.
To better manage emergency communications and to coordinate responses during the legendary New Year’s Eve celebrations in New York City’s Times Square this year, the New York City Police Department and AT&T turned the company’s retail phone store in the metro hub into an operations center.
