by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 13, 2021 | Comm Center News
GREENSBORO, N.C. — May 12, 2018, remains a dark day in the city of Greensboro. A fire broke out in an apartment complex early in the morning, ultimately killing five children who were part of a family of refugees from the Congo.
Jeri Phillips, a 911 dispatcher in the city for the last six years, remembers it well.
“My best friend took that call and talked to that person and I love her and I know it just broke her heart. It breaks my heart just to talk about it,” she says.
Through her grief, she was determined to make it easier for people in her line of work to interact with non-English-speakers.
“They don’t know they can call. They don’t know that we can get an interpreter that speaks their language,” she says, adding, “(Some of them are) coming from countries where the police are bad. The police are the people they’re trying to get away from. So they don’t know the police are somebody that they can reach out to.” … READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 13, 2021 | Comm Center News
The ballot amendment would shift power away from the Minneapolis Police Department and instead create a department of public safety — here’s what that means.
For over a year, activists have been advocating to defund the police and shift power to other public safety professionals. Some of these activists say they see the Yes 4 Minneapolis charter amendment as their chance to make this happen.
On Nov. 2, citizens of Minneapolis will be able to vote “yes” or “no” on whether to replace the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) with a new Department of Public Safety. The new structure would aim to take a more comprehensive approach to public safety through multiple divisions of public health professionals…
by ECC Editor | Sep 13, 2021 | Comm Center News
COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Branch County Central Dispatch Authority is trying to get the word out that the end of 3G wireless connection is rapidly approaching.
Branch County 9-1-1/Central Dispatch Interim Director Jean Ratkowski says wireless carriers will discontinue support of 3G devices in 2022.
Older style 3G models of TracFone’s, flip phones, jitterbugs and others will start falling off networks in the near future.
County Administrator Bud Norman says updated technology has led to this… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 13, 2021 | Comm Center News
Cayuga County 911 workers regularly receive calls from people in difficult and dangerous situations, but Patti Enge seems to have a knack for taking calls that end with particularly happy endings.
Enge, who has been a county 911 dispatcher for over a decade, has helped women deliver babies in three separate occasions over the years.
The latest came at 12:48 a.m. Thursday during an overnight shift, when Enge picked up a call from Auburn where a pregnant woman’s husband requested an ambulance to pick up his wife, who was in labor… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 13, 2021 | Comm Center News
Portland residents calling 911 to report emergencies are facing a “dramatic increase” in hold times, with officials saying that the system has become “unmanageable” and is “broken.”
According to The Oregonian, people dialing 911 are often left waiting over two minutes for their call to be answered, far longer than the national standard of 15 to 20 seconds.
People calling 911 to report a Sept. 4 shootout at a Pearl District restaurant and other emergencies in the following half-hour waited an average of more than 7.5 minutes before a dispatcher answered, The Oregonian reported, adding that this was just “the latest example of serious problems plaguing the city’s emergency dispatch system.” …
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 13, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel released the agenda for the FCC’s upcoming September Open Commission Meeting, scheduled for September 30.
During the meeting, Commissioners will cover a wide range of topics, including network resiliency, IoT spectrum needs, promoting public safety, and expanding Tribal broadband access.
Items included on the meeting agenda are:
- Promoting More Resilient Networks – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to examine the Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework, the FCC’s network outage reporting rules, and strategies to address the effect of power outages on communications networks.
- Reassessing 4.9 GHz Band for Public Safety – The Commission will consider an Order on Reconsideration that would vacate the 2020 Sixth Report and Order, which adopted a state-by-state leasing framework for the 4.9 GHz band. The Commission also will consider an Eighth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on a national framework for the 4.9 GHz band, ways to foster greater public safety use, and ways to facilitate compatible non-public safety access to the band…
