TRIAL BY FIRE: When the coronavirus pandemic arrived, medical professionals scrambled to set up outdoor testing centers, telemedicine links and data hubs to track how the disease spread.
For many communities, including in remote and underserved parts of the country, a lack of one key resource threatened to throw the whole effort sideways: broadband internet…
The Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to give states more flexibility over a swath of airwaves previously reserved for public safety.
The order, adopted in a 3-2 vote with both Democratic commissioners dissenting, enables states to lease their rights to 4.9 GHz band airwaves for commercial purposes and for critical infrastructure, such as utilities providing electricity…
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Emergency Communication Networks division continues to investigate a multi-state 911 outage on Sept. 28.
According to CenturyLink’s preliminary review, 135 calls to 24 Minnesota public safety answering points failed to be routed during the 48-minute disruption… READ MORE
Just past the front doors of the new Maryville Public Safety building, guests walk over the agency’s logo, printed large on the floor and glance at a plaque solidified on the wall next to them. “R. Keith Wood Public Safety Facility” it reads, commemorating the work of the long-time public safety director who’s vision for the agency shines even after his retirement.
The new building houses all of Maryville Public Safety, including police, fire and dispatch. With several improvements focused on efficiency and functionality, the building took several months to complete, but several more years at that to plan and execute…
Welcome to October! This has been a tough year for everyone, especially for the public-safety community. However, there continues to be good news on the communications front along with, of course, some bad news. On the plus side, after a very strong bi-partisan vote, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 451, the repeal the T-Band giveback. Currently, the FCC is faced with having to auction the T-Band spectrum (470-512 MHz) that is designated for use by the public-safety community in eleven major metropolitan cities and their surrounding suburbs…
WAVY’s Jason Marks reports that Deputy City Manager of Public Safety Steve Cover will retire at the end of 2020.
Cover, a Virginia Beach native, was appointed to the position in October 2016 by then-City Manager Dave Hansen. He had served as the city fire chief since 2007 after starting his career as a volunteer firefighter at age 16.
In the role, Cover oversaw the Virginia Beach Police Department, Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Communications and Citizen Services (911/311) and the Office of Emergency Management…
