EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is in response to a reader-submitted question through Open Source, a platform where readers can submit questions to the staff.
MOUNT VERNON — The 911 phone line in Knox County has gone down twice in the last few weeks.
The reason why? On Nov. 5 and Oct. 16, CenturyLink — the provider the county uses for its emergency lines — had area outages.
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, CO — A new automated phone system in Arapahoe County is expected to ease wait times and help with staffing shortages in the sheriff’s dispatch division.
Residents who phone the sheriff’s non-emergency number, 303-795-4711, will soon hear a new recorded ‘auto attendant,’ which will route calls to the correct department, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said. The new system is set to begin at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Cathy Raley, communications manager with the sheriff’s office, said the automated system will improve wait times…
“911 calls could take longer to answer, longer to process, longer to be dispatched,” John Grappy, the Director of Public Safety for Erie County said. “There’s an expectation that when someone is calling 911 during their greatest need that we’re going to have adequate staffing to answer, process, and dispatch those emergency calls.”
Right now they are struggling to do that. Grappy told Erie News Now there are only eight telecommunicators per shift, down from 10…
Rural Broadband
As most of you know by now, the infrastructure bill was finally passed by the House last week. It had already been passed by the Senate and is now on its way to the White House for the President’s signature. This bill includes $65 Billion in funding for rural broadband services. Whether there are provisions for oversight and coordination of how this money is spent, who spends it, and for what technologies is unclear.
As I have said before, my concern is that without some form of oversight we could end up with a patchwork quilt of non-compatible broadband deployments in rural areas. Some think broadband must be fiber-only and some believe there are a number of technologies that can be used to deploy broadband services in rural America…
WILLISTON, N.D. — The old Sloulin Field airport terminal in Williston is now the home of two emergency services for the region.
Starting Tuesday, the Upper Missouri River Regional Dispatch Center is taking calls through the state-of-the-art facility. The Williams County Emergency Management operations center is also located inside, where they will provide training and serve as a base of operation in the event of a widescale emergency.
Williams County Emergency Manager Mike Smith says the area has more than double the space of the previous facility and will be beneficial in training first responders here and around the region… READ MORE
FRANKFORT, Ky. (WBKO) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear unveiled part of his upcoming budget plan, which he said makes historic investments in law enforcement so the commonwealth can be a leader in improving public safety.
The Governor’s two-year budget plan provides millions of dollars to fund competitive salaries for Kentucky State Police (KSP) troopers, officers, and telecommunicators, supply recording devices for KSP sworn troopers, and increase the peace officer training stipend. The Governor also reiterated the need for lawmakers to use up to $400 million in federal aid to provide a monetary “hero bonus” to those who have worked on the front lines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said should include the state’s law enforcement community… READ MORE
