Instead of dispatching armed police officers, Akron officials are exploring the possibility of a civilian response to 911 calls that involve non-violent disputes, mental health crises and more.
City Council’s Reimagining Public Safety Committee dedicated an hour last week to the idea that trained social service and mental health care workers — working with police or on their own — could mediate better outcomes while freeing up officers to focus limited time and resources on priority calls and criminal investigations.
While nothing formal has been proposed, the head of the police union says someone will get hurt with this “warm and fuzzy way to defund the police.” Proponents argue that culturally competent civilians with ties to the community could serve as “credible messengers” who help to break the cycle of addiction and homelessness. And other cities have been doing this for months or even decades with no tragic outcomes…
Indianapolis, IN – After more than 20 years of faithful service to the state of Indiana, Telecommunications Operator Donna Schultz has retired.
Donna is a native of Louisville Kentucky and a 1976 graduate of Dupont Manual High School. She began her career with the Indiana State Police June 4, 2001 as a telecommunications operator at the Sellersburg Post. In 2009 she moved to central Indiana and transferred her position to the Indianapolis Post where she has served since.
After a 14-year-old girl in Parkland called 911 because her mother was not breathing, Telecommunications Supervisor Melissa Ayers instructed the teen how to perform CPR — saving the life of her mother.
Because of Ayers’s successful lifesaving efforts, on September 9, 2021, the Florida Department of Health’s Emergency Medical Service Section selected her as the Telecommunicator of the Year.
On April 30, 2020, Ayers answered the 911 call. After receiving basic information about the type of emergency, she instructed the teen to perform CPR, encouraging her to continue doing compressions several times throughout the call… READ MORE
NEW SCOTLAND — The Albany County Legislature this week unanimously approved $8.33 million in construction contracts to turn the former Clarksville Elementary School into the county’s Emergency 9-1-1 Communications Center.
Sheriff Craig Apple told members of the legislature’s public works committee on Aug. 24 that, barring the full legislature voting down the project, “we anticipate putting a shovel in the ground in about 25 [to] 30 days.”
A year ago, citing coronavirus concerns and major savings to taxpayers, Apple requested and received permission to move the 9-1-1 center from its planned location at the Shaker Place Nursing Home in Colonie to the sheriff’s public-safety building in Clarksville… READ MORE
SANGAMON COUNTY, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — The people answering your 9-1-1 calls are working thousands of hours of overtime.
In Sangamon County, combined overtime costs in 2019 and 2020 totaled more than $1.3 million, and officials say the problem could get worse before it gets better.
Dispatchers are the calm voice on the other end of the line when you call in an emergency.
“Everybody who calls in is typically screaming,” said Chris Mueller, executive director of the Sangamon County Emergency Telephone System Department. “It’s the worst day of their life, and we have to be that calming voice.” …
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – On Thursday, the City of Durham held a job fair at the NC Works career center on South Briggs. Officials looked to recruit call takers as almost half of the city’s 911 operator positions are vacant.
CBS 17 has been reporting for months on the staffing shortage at the Durham Emergency Communications Center (DECC) and the impact it’s having on the community. Multiple people have said they’ve had to call 911 multiple times or hold on the line for several minutes before someone answers.
According to city officials, as of Thursday, 28 of their 60 positions at the Durham Emergency Communications Center were vacant…
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
