Comm Center News
After years of debate, Oconomowoc will disband its local dispatch service (WI)
The issue of dispatch services in the city of Oconomowoc has been a topic of discussion for years, and now officials have decided to disband the local dispatch center at its public safety building in favor of a countywide option. At an Oct. 19 meeting, the...
City, supervisors to get look at CAD system (IA)
Both the Ottumwa City Council and Wapello County Board of Supervisors will receive a presentation for a new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system that would tie in all the county's emergency personnel together. County emergency manager Tim Richmond, Ottumwa Police...
Revisiting 911 Network Reliability
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) entered into Consent Decrees with eight Covered 911 Service Providers for failing to timely file their required 911 reliability certification in 2020. The Rules As background, the FCC adopted rules in...
Emergency communications discussed by PCFC (KY)
During the Pike County Fiscal Court meeting on Oct. 19, Pike County Emergency Management Director Doug Tackett informed the court that his department had been turned down by the National Homeland Security and by Kentucky Homeland Security for grants to upgrade the...
Lawsuit: PA Dispatcher Hung Up on Fatal Fire Call
An Allentown man and his 14-year-old nephew died in a fire in July 2020 because a Lehigh County 911 dispatcher did not understand his pleas for help in Spanish and hung up the call, a federal lawsuit by a group of former dispatchers alleges. The seven...
New cell tower brought to rural Wisconsin
MARATHON COUNTY, Wis. (WAOW)-- A new cell tower is bringing new opportunities to rural Wisconsin. Marathon County partnered with Bug Tussel, a wireless high-speed internet provider to bring a new cell tower to Little Chicago. ...
Short-staffed 911 call centers lead to longer waits in emergencies (CA)
SACRAMENTO, CA – “There’s somebody trying to break into my house, it looks like one person, please send someone,” said a frantic Sacramento County resident during a recent 911 call. Every year, more than 850,000 calls are made to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s...
Delta Police consider their own dispatch system (Canada)
Delta’s police department is hoping to eventually set up its own dispatch service for non-urgent emergency calls – if a couple of stumbling blocks could be cleared. During a discussion about E-Comm at the Delta Police Board on Wednesday, Oct. 20, Chief Neil Dubord...
New team of 911 responders in works as Ramsey County plans overhaul (MN)
Ramsey County 911 operators could soon dispatch social and mental health workers, child welfare staff and even nonprofit employees to crisis calls, in one of the most dramatic transformations of the emergency call system since its inception half a century ago. At a...
OHP retiring previous *55 number, becoming secondary 911 call center (OK)
A method of calling for assistance on Oklahoma highways is being retired. For almost three decades, drivers of Oklahoma’s highways have been able to call *55 for assistance. The number was previous implemented in 1992 as a cellular service that would,...
Taft receives Phillips 66 donation for digital radios (TX)
As San Patricio County continues to grow in leaps and bounds, so does its needs for first responders and upgraded equipment. Located in the middle of industrial growth in Sinton and Portland is Taft, which currently has 12 employees and serves 233 square miles. With...
Keep Your 911 Commitment
In your day-to-day work life, have you ever stopped to wonder why you continue to come in to work every day? Why the PSAP life? More specifically, why you are an emergency services telecommunicator? Bills, boredom, family to support, or just getting out of the house?...
Mayfield telecommunicator honored with Kentucky State Police civilian award
A telecommunicator from Mayfield is among 14 Kentucky State Police employees who were honored by the agency during its annual civilian awards ceremony Thursday in Frankfort. KSP held the award ceremony to recognize civilian employees for their work in 2020. “All of...
Middle Township will move 911 dispatch services to Cape May County (NJ)
Cape May Court House, N.J. – Middle Township will partner with Cape May County for emergency dispatch services as part of a plan to realize savings and ensure sufficient staffing. Middle authorized a shared services agreement with the county at its Oct. 18 Township...
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes Brokers Solution To Temporarily Solve Trenton’s Ongoing Radio System Crisis (NJ)
October 21, 2021
TRENTON, NJ (MERCER)–Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes today conducted a private meeting with Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora and Trenton City Council President Kathy McBride to broker a solution that will temporarily solve a crisis involving the city’s emergency radio system for first responders.
At Mercer County’s Dempster Fire Academy, where the county’s 911 Central Communications Center is located, the mayor and council president agreed to Mr. Hughes’ offer to lend to Trenton 133 radios that the county has in its backup supply. By offering Trenton the use of the radios for up to six months, the mayor and council will have ample time to work through the city’s radio system problem and contract issues, Mr. Hughes said.
The county’s portable radios are compatible with the dispatch system, and the county already handles the emergency medical technician (EMT) dispatch for Trenton.
“This proposal is a win for everyone,” Mr. Hughes said, noting that Mayor and Council will have time to sensibly work together to conduct an open public bid for radios, award the bid and have new, state-of-the-art radios operational by the end of the year, and Mercer County will have helped to ensure that 911 dispatchers have immediate access to Trenton public safety personnel on compatible equipment and are able to keep the citizens safe.
Statement From Mayor Gusciora on His Thursday Meeting With Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes and City Council President Kathy McBride on the City’s Emergency Communications System
On Thursday, I met with Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes and City Council President Kathy McBride to discuss the public-safety radio system for the City of Trenton.
Mr. Hughes agreed to temporarily loan our city approximately 130 handheld radios programmed to the county’s radio system. While Mercer County’s radio loan is not optimum, it helps carry the city over until a new system is in place. Mercer County’s assistance gives my administration time to work with Council President McBride to work in common cause on an agreement to replace the city’s aging radio system with equipment compatible with Mercer County’s emergency radio platform. This arrangement is the foundation of my permanent proposed solution.
I am very grateful to Council President McBride, who phoned me on Wednesday afternoon. She pledged for us to work together on this critical public safety issue for our residents and businesses.
Previously, a Resolution authorizing $4 million from the city’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) fund to pay for a new radio and 911 systems did not make the docket. Council tabled a Resolution to pay the city’s current police and fire radio-system vendor, MPS Communications, for overdue invoices, an issue headed for litigation. The company will pull the plug on the city’s radio system on October 31, endangering residents and public safety personnel.
Nonetheless, I am very grateful to Mercer County Executive Hughes for meeting with us, his leadership, and his expeditious assistance. And, I wish to thank City Council President McBride for her goodwill and willingness to work together on a permanent solution.
Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes, File Photo
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora File Photo
Trenton City Council President Kathy McBride
COVID relief funds will purchase new equipment for Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (MI)
JACKSON COUNTY, MI – New equipment to help the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office increase transparency and improve operations is being funded by federal COVID-19 relief funds. A lease-to-own program through Axon approved by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners on...
Tucson moves towards city employee COVID-19 vaccination requirement, Ducey pushes back (AZ)
TUCSON — The City of Tucson is moving forward with its threat to fire city employees who do not get vaccinated for COVID-19, setting a December deadline. Those same workers face November suspensions if they can’t prove they are vaccinated or that they received an...
Pullman PD Joins Neighbors Public Safety Service (WA)
PULLMAN – The Pullman Police Department has partnered with Neighbors Public Safety Service to leverage the Neighbors app by Ring. This free service allows citizens the opportunity to stay informed with real-time information related to local public safety incidents....
DHR Health Level 1 Trauma Center Utilizes FirstNet® Network for Priority Emergency Response (TX)
Photo by Roberto Hugo Gonzalez Edinburg, TX – DHR Health is now a FirstNet® subscriber, bringing their Level 1 Trauma Center to the forefront of public safety communications. FirstNet is the only, nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to...
Fort hires consultant to communicate possible public safety referendum (WI)
The City of Fort Atkinson has accepted a proposal from Mueller Communications, Milwaukee, to serve as the communications consultant for a possible public safety referendum next April. The proposal, which excludes an optional community survey, carries a total price tag...
Upcoming Webinar
4.9 GHz Band: Review of the FCC Order
On October 22, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released its Eighth Report and Order (Eighth R&O) regarding utilization of the 4940-4990 MHz (4.9 GHz) band that protects incumbent users as requested by us, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA). This Eighth R&O addresses a number of issues related to the use of this band by public safety. Please join us for a briefing on this order and how it impacts public safety.
This presentation will be led by Chief Jeff Johnson (ret) and Attorney Jason Karp, one of the nation’s leading experts in public safety spectrum regulations.
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