TUSD safety department receives grant from DOJ to enhance security at schools (AZ)

TUSD safety department receives grant from DOJ to enhance security at schools (AZ)

by | Mar 25, 2021 | Comm Center News

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Tucson Unified School Safety Department announced Tuesday it received a grant from the U.S Department of Justice to create a program for enhaced security at schools and school facilities.

In October 2019, the safety department was awarded a grant of $525,000 under the 2019 COPS Office School Violence Prevention Program, according to a press release from TUSD. The COPS program was made to enhance security within school campuses and school facilities.

With the grant, TUSD enrolled into a county-wide association for public safety and public service agencies called the Pima County Wireless Integrated Network, according to TUSD. In October 2020, the program created, added to services in the TUSD community, by regulating public safety communications in the county and broaden safety in the community…

Columbia public safety outgrows its space (MO)

by | Mar 25, 2021 | Comm Center News

Columbia’s population has nearly doubled in the past 30 years, and emergency departments would like to see the public safety complex that houses the police, fire and EMS agencies reflect that growth.

The facility at 1020 N. Main Street has been the subject of several improvement plans since the public safety departments began using the property in 1988, but only minor upgrades have been made there over three decades…

Fire chief says Dadeville Fire Dept. is ‘stuck with’ weak radio channel for now (AL)

Fire chief says Dadeville Fire Dept. is ‘stuck with’ weak radio channel for now (AL)

by | Mar 25, 2021 | Comm Center News

Fire chief Scott Atkins said Dadeville Volunteer Fire Department will have to scrape by on a weak radio channel for another few months after learning what the cost of repair would be.
 
“I finally got a quote back late yesterday and I’m afraid it’s not going to be an option,” Atkins told the mayor and city council Tuesday. “The total quote was $20,000.”
 
Atkins said the quote includes $15,000 in parts and $5,000 in labor, which would involve climbing the water tower behind the fire station where the broken antenna is located…. 

Sheriff’s office considered for city dispatch (NY)

Sheriff’s office considered for city dispatch (NY)

by | Mar 25, 2021 | Comm Center News

A special committee to study the feasibility of moving the city’s current in-house police dispatch to the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office is being formed immediately, according to Mayor Michelle Roman.

Roman said the committee will include aldermen, representatives of the city’s police and fire boards, police and fire unions, county legislators and representatives of other nearby municipalities…

Ann Arbor may institute unarmed responses to certain 911 calls by end of 2021 (MI)

Ann Arbor may institute unarmed responses to certain 911 calls by end of 2021 (MI)

by | Mar 25, 2021 | Comm Center News

ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor officials have laid out a proposal for an unarmed public safety response program to have non-police professionals respond to certain 911 calls.

If the resolution is approved, Crawford would be tasked with exploring opportunities for unarmed responses to calls through Metro 911, possibly forming partnerships with community service providers and identifying which responses now handled by armed police could be carried out by experts in areas such as mental health, public health and human services…

City of Phoenix Recruiting 911 Dispatchers, Pay Increase Coming Mid-March (AZ)

by | Mar 25, 2021 | Comm Center News

It is often in the worst moment of your life that you dial 911 for help, assuming someone will be there for you on the other end of the line. That someone is a 911 dispatcher.  Now those dispatchers will be getting paid more for being the unseen heroes of emergency services.  

“There will always be crime unfortunately,” Phoenix Police Communications Operator Sandra Ojeda said. “I feel good knowing I help people. I am a lifeline.” 

Finding the right people to be that lifeline, providing the critical link between residents and the help they need In the last year, has been challenging…