When former correctional officer Michelle McKeaveney’s mental health spiralled into an operational stress injury (OSI), online therapy wasn’t an option.
Last Wednesday, however, the U of R released a new online tool for public safety personnel throughout Saskatchewan. Researchers plan to expand it into Quebec, and eventually across Canada…
Bill Kerry, director of the Ithaca College Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management, discussed the creation of a Public Safety app with the Student Governance Council on Feb. 3 at a meeting held in the Public Safety office.
Kerry said that development for the app began in Fall 2019 and that it should be completed during Spring 2020. He also said that in addition to the Public Safety office, Information Technology and the Office of College Communications helped to develop the app too…
Posted by: Chris NussmanThe nation’s leading 9-1-1 organization is welcoming the establishment of an independent body to encourage greater interoperability in Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) systems.
Together with other stakeholders, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) will participate in the new NG9-1-1 Interoperability Oversight Commission, an independent body that will oversee key programs related to interoperability in NG9-1-1, including the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) Credentialing Agency (PCA) and the NG9-1-1 Forest Guide.
The PCA will address the need for Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to manage secure credentials within the 9-1-1 industry. A PKI is a set of policies and certificate-issuing bodies that cooperate in establishing trust so that entities in a sensitive industry can communicate securely. The PCA is a root Certificate Authority (CA) that sits at the root of the NG9-1-1 PKI. This is the same model used by the STIR/SHAKEN system to authenticate telephone calls, and also used by the global aerospace industry, the United States cable television industry, the U.S. Federal Government and others. The PKI is required to be established under standards developed for NG9-1-1, such as the NENA i3 core services standard.
The Forest Guide is another service required by the major standards for NG9-1-1, including work published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and NENA, to help with location-based routing when the local system can’t find a destination. In NG9-1-1, a caller’s location is typically used for location-based routing to connect a caller with the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). When the local system fails to find the right PSAP for a call, it will query the Forest Guide for help. Current standards envision one Forest Guide will exist for each large region, such as United States or Canada. The Federal Communications Commission’s Task Force on Optimal PSAP Architecture (TFOPA) has also called for a Forest Guide for the United States, with independent governance.
These new services are critically important and will require ongoing, stakeholder-driven oversight, which will be provided by the NG9-1-1 Interoperability Oversight Commission. The commission will oversee the development and operation of both services, including budgets, policies, management procedures and any fees. Seats on the commission will reflect all affected stakeholders, including 9-1-1 authorities, commercial providers, standards development groups, elected officials and 9-1-1 operators.
“This is a landmark moment for public safety,” said Brandon Abley, Technical Issues Director for NENA. “The PCA and Forest Guide are critically important services, and the Commission will make sure stakeholders can trust how they are operated. NENA will have no direct control over these entities, allowing for fully independent oversight. We’re following the exact same model used in other critical industries.”
NENA is actively soliciting volunteers to sit on the commission. An open letter with submission instructions is available here, and the bylaws for the Commission are here.
MELVILLE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb 5, 2020–
February 5, 2020 — Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ: CMTL) announced today, that during its second quarter of fiscal 2020, its subsidiary, Comtech Solacom Technologies, Inc., which is part of Comtech’s Commercial Solutions segment, has been selected to provide a Guardian Next Generation 9-1-1 call handling solution to the Northwest Central Dispatch System (“NWCDS”), an intergovernmental consolidated emergency dispatch system providing 9-1-1 services for several communities in northwest suburban Chicago. Financial terms were not disclosed…
After an 18-month legal battle, Pinellas County settled a lawsuit with contractors over poor construction in the Public Safety Complex — an $81 million fortress built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
Last week, the county withdrew the lawsuit and reached a $1.1 million settlement with contractors in mediation, court records show. Prior to the…
The Public Safety Center is being constructed in Maple, on a site in Community Park near the Regional Aviation and Technical Training Center.
When it is completed in early 2021, the facility will house all of Currituck County’s public safety departments under one roof.
Offices and classrooms will be used by the College of the Albemarle for instruction of its public safety programs…
