NEW BLOOMFIELD — According to the deputy director for Boone County Joint Communications Joe Piper, the national turnover rate for 911 dispatchers is upward of about 30%.
Currently, in Cole County, there are 20 positions for 911 dispatchers, 18 of these are filled with two positions vacant. In Boone County, 911 dispatchers are operating at about 50% of their allotted staff with 43 of 61 authorized positions filled… READ MORE
FORT SMITH — The Police Department’s Citizen’s Academy recently began another class to help residents understand who the police are and what they do.
Robyn Shoptaw, crime prevention officer, said different people take the course. She said she isn’t aware of anyone becoming a police officer as a result, but attendees often join the academy’s alumni association and help the department with volunteer efforts.
“Our goal with putting on this class is for the citizens of Fort Smith to be able to understand what we do, and relate to us as people,” Shoptaw said. “We create this enviornment where it’s very open. They get to ask questions, talk to all of these different officers and dispatchers and civilian employees that do this every day…
GREENWICH — As a youngster in elementary school, Frank O’Toole volunteered with the Red Cross and learned first aid. He later joined the Greenwich Police Cadet-Explorer Program in what would become a life of public service and a career as an emergency dispatcher.
O’Toole died Monday in Greenwich from natural causes, according to his mother, Barbara O’Toole. He was 39.
Greenwich police said he joined the department as a dispatcher in March 2008 and said he was recently promoted to lead dispatcher…
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Some Kentucky dispatchers issued a plea to the community in an effort to prevent a potentially dangerous problem.
In a Facebook post Thursday, Nelson County Dispatch said people are prank calling 911 — including kids cussing or yelling at dispatchers.
“To call 911 as a prank or a joke, could be costing someone their life and I don’t think they realize the seriousness of them pranking us, verses it being a real call,” said Shawn Gaither, director of Nelson County E-911…
D.C. is set to extend a pilot initiative where certain calls to police involving mental health emergencies are routed to city social workers who are better equipped to handle the situation, Bloomberg CityLab reported Friday.
The District’s Mental Health Emergency Dispatch Program, which was implemented by Mayor Bowser in May, was intended to reduce the number of police-involved shootings that occur when the subject of an emergency call may be mentally unstable.
According to the report, during the first phase, only 2% of behavioral health calls were directed to the team responsible for the pilot…
Mission Critical Partners will work with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to evaluate the state of geographic information systems in the 911 community as part of efforts to improve sharing of GIS data across the U.S.
The National 911 Program at NHTSA will oversee the effort and collaborate with MCP to come up with a report that will include an assessment of administrative, governance, operational and financial issues and identification of metrics to help determine GIS data’s accuracy, MCP said Monday… READ MORE
