Comm Center News

SEE Telecom’s Optical Repeaters Can Now Be Used In Austria

Mar 20, 2021 | | 0 Comments

Tetra |
2021-03-20

The company announced that it’s repeaters are now officially approved for use on the BOS (public safey) radio network network in Austria. 

From now on, the complete portfolio of SEE telecom, existing of both Off-air and Optical repeaters is offered to enhance radio coverage inside all types of confined infrastructures in Austria. The portfolio includes repeaters with a variety of redundancy, alarm and remote maintenance options, various performance classes, dimensions, and design.
The Austrian public safety sector is strictly regulated by TETRON Sicherheitsnetz Errichtungs- und Betriebs GesmbH, which is responsible for the creation of the digital authoritative radio network BOS-Austria.
For safety reasons, only devices certified by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and TETRON are allowed to be installed in Austria.

Report on radio study is well-received (VT)

Mar 20, 2021 | | 0 Comments

MONTPELIER — Preliminary results from an ongoing study commissioned by the Central Vermont Public Safety Authority suggest the simulcast system proposed by an established network of area fire departments would significantly improve emergency communications throughout the region.Though computer modeled “coverage maps” shared with members of the CVPSA Board during its virtual meeting Thursday night were described as “very preliminary,” they should be encouraging — if not surprising — to the fire departments that comprise the Capital Fire Mutual Aid System.On a night that ended with Fred Cummings offering a candid critique of the board, Montpelier’s departing dispatch supervisor suggested the “coverage maps” presented for their review told only half of what has the makings of a very good story.

According to Cummings, the rest of the story can be found in the current coverage maps — the ones that highlight the shortcomings of aging communications infrastructure badly in need of an upgrade.“When you put them (the maps) side by side, you’re going to see the dramatic differences,” he predicted.The maps reflect the mutual aid system’s proposal to add three new transmitters — one on Beacon Hill in Chelsea, another on Lincoln Peak in Warren and a third on Hill Street in Montpelier — while upgrading several others.The plan is designed to improve emergency communications across the region and address several problem areas.Cummings, who tendered his two-week notice Tuesday and has accepted a similar job at a larger dispatch center in Minnesota, said the preliminary maps prepared by Televate LLC appear to back those plans.“It’s solving probably 98% of the coverage areas that have been identified (as problems),” he said, suggesting the draft maps reflect a “huge improvement” over current conditions.Among other things, Cummings said, plans for the Beacon Hill transmitter would resolve long-standing problems in Washington and portions of Williamstown and potential to offer dispatch services to the Chelsea Volunteer Fire Department and the First Branch Ambulance Service.Joe Aldsworth, deputy fire chief in Barre, said the maps were cause for cautious optimism.“It’s encouraging,” he said, suggesting a side-by-side town-by-town comparison would be useful for the mutual aid system.Members of the mutual aid system tabled action Wednesday on a proposal they withdraw from their dues-free membership in the public safety authority created by votes in Barre and Montpelier in 2014 and recently commissioned the study to evaluate the region’s emergency communications infrastructure.Francis “Paco” Aumand, the authority’s former executive director, who was retained on a consulting basis earlier this year to manage the Televate contract, said the early returns didn’t raise any red flags with respect to the upgrades contemplated by the mutual aid system.“It does appear there is a strong radio mobile coverage within the area they have identified as the service area,” he said, noting the maps are subject to revision, a final report isn’t due until June 2 and Televate isn’t yet prepared to make any recommendations.Notwithstanding those caveats, Aumand said he interpreted the preliminary maps the same way Cummings and Aldsworth did.“That’s pretty good coverage,” he said.Though the maps seem to suggest otherwise, Aumand stressed they should not be read to mean a key concern raised by fire departments in Barre and Montpelier would be resolved by the proposed upgrades.

“This does not mean there is in-building radio coverage,” he said, suggesting that was an unresolved issue.According to Aumand, Televate has met with some stakeholders — Aldsworth and Todd Goad, of Burlington Communications, among them — and is scheduling meetings with others, including Cummings, as part a study that will include an online stakeholder survey that will be rolled out in coming weeks.Aumand’s report highlighted a meeting during which the board approved $2,550 in training funds for three Montpelier dispatchers to take the “Women in Leadership” training offered by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.Montpelier Police Chief Brian Peete said the training request was part of a succession planning process aimed at increasing diversity in leadership and was spurred, in part, by Cummings’ announcement he will be leaving.As the meeting was coming to a close, board member Dona Bate said she hoped to replace Chairman Kim Cheney during next month’s organizational meeting, and Cheney said he isn’t ready to step aside.As Cheney mused about the board’s past struggles and suggested it might be on the verge of a “breakthrough,” Cummings offered some “parting words of wisdom,” as well as a blunt critique.“You have to pick one thing, and you have to do it well in order to get legitimacy and trust from the people you want to serve,” he said, adding: “The biggest thing that you lack right now … based on comments that I’ve heard … is there’s no trust in your board.”Cummings said “trust” and “legitimacy” need to be earned, partnerships need to be nurtured and ideas — even good ideas — take time. The board, he said, needs to “focus” and finish, stop swinging at every pitch, and emulate — not alienate — potential partners like the Capital Fire Mutual Aid System.“That’s an organization that you should strive to be like,” he said. “They’ve made a radio system work against all the odds … and they’re ready to move forward with something that will blow the doors off what they have now.”Cummings said he is confident Televate will validate that prediction when it issues its report, crediting the board for hiring the firm to conduct the analysis.“The first great thing you did is agree to do this study,” he said, predicting it will make the case for a simulcast system and underscore the need for redundancy in emergency communications.Also, Cummings said it will likely recommend a regional emergency communications center — an idea an earlier version of the board had a hard time selling to officials in Barre and Montpelier.Cummings acknowledged that might never change, but, he said, it definitely won’t if the authority can’t string together some successes and prove its worth.The good news?Cummings said he thinks it can.“I believe enough in this to believe that it can work,” he said.david.delcore @timesargus.com

Licking County now offering Text-to-911 program (OH)

Mar 20, 2021 | | 0 Comments

NEWARK – Licking County announced its launch of a service allowing the Licking County Regional Communication Center to receive emergency information via text messages.According to Nathan Bryan, Licking County Regional Communication Center Operations Manager, discussions about adding Text-to-911 as a service in Licking County began in August. A grant covered a portion of the start-up cost, he said, which covered the purchase of routers needed to ensure texts come through from the caller.In a press release, Licking County EMA said Text-to-911 should only be used in an emergency situation when placing a call isn’t possible. They suggested examples of if the caller is deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired, or when a caller talking out loud could put them in danger.Bryan explained typically their agency has anywhere from two to four dispatchers on call to answer 911 calls. He said each will also be responsible for answering Text-to-911, and that all staff members between the 911 center and sheriff’s office have been trained and are able to process the messages.When a dispatcher is actively engaged in a Text-to-911 message, Bryan said they will not answer a voice 911 call.Already, Bryan said their agency has received several Text-to-911 messages, including a domestic incident and a suspicious person outside a window.Through the new program, Licking County EMA Director Sean Grady said it will enable their emergency services to serve the community in situations where the caller can’t speak or there may be additional dangers if they speak.”I think it shows a willingness for Licking County to really look at the future and how to best help our residents by implementing technology like this, whereas we know it’s not a program available in all of Ohio,” Licking County EMA spokeswoman Olivia Biggs said. “It shows our willingness to be on the front edge of that.”According to Bryan, the program has been implemented in areas such as Franklin County, Reynoldsburg, and Delaware.Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp described the program as another tool in the toolbox to make Licking County as safer community.According to the press release the Text-to-911 service may come with challenges, including requiring a text or data plan to place a Text-to-911, the fact messages to 911 may take longer to receive, may arrive out of order or may not be received at all, photos and videos cannot be sent to 911, and the text to 911 cannot include more than one person.Licking County EMA encouraged those making a text message to 911 to include the location and type of emergency in their first message, text in simple words without abbreviations or slang, be prepared to answer questions from the dispatcher, and not to text and drive.The agency said voice calls to 911 are still the best and fastest way to contact the agency and should be made during an emergency whenever possible.For a guide on how to use Text-to-911 correctly, visit the Federal Communications Commission website.

Wallingford police say goodbye to the boss they call ‘Homie’ (CT)

Mar 20, 2021 | | 0 Comments

WALLINGFORD — It was about 1 a.m. at the Police Department dispatch center some three years ago and Jennifer Nastri was feeling impish.Her boss, Capt. Richard Homestead, announced to the officers and dispatchers arrayed around the room that he was about to go on break, and did anybody want anything from Dunkin’? “I want a goldfish,” Nastri said.Some nights, midnight shift is a barrage of calls for service that police and dispatchers scramble to keep up with. This was not one of those nights.“OK, Nastri wants a goldfish,” Homestead replied. “Does anybody else need anything?”About 20 minutes later, Homestead pulled out of his Dunkin’ bag two small goldfish swimming in plastic bags. He had stopped at Walmart — “the one place where you can get absolutely everything at 1 o’clock in the morning,” he exclaimed — and fetched two carassius auratus with the help of a very surprised store clerk.Nastri named them Sushi and Wally and took them home.“Wally didn’t make it, but Sushi lasted awhile,“ Homestead recalled.This kind of low-key, amiable fun is one of the reasons Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., Police Chief William Wright and about 50 firefighters, police and town workers gathered in the training classroom at the police station on Friday to honor and say goodbye to the man they nicknamed “Homie.”Homestead’s last day at work was Friday. He is retiring after 24 years to become a sergeant with the Central Connecticut State University Campus Police, he said.“I just felt it was time,” Homestead, 54, said.Homestead’s sometimes paternal, sometimes fun but always businesslike approach to the job, his innate steadiness, optimism and simple desire to be of service to others made the party almost mandatory, said Wright, who encouraged Homestead to use his personality to build camaraderie in the department.“He is an absolutely stellar person, family man and co-worker,” Wright said, “diligent in everything he did.”Hired in Wallingford in 1997, Homestead served as a patrolman, sergeant, detective sergeant, lieutenant and finally captain in 2017. Working as an in-house training instructor, he taught firearms, use of force and was a member of the department’s Emergency Services Unit and commanded the Emergency Response Team. Homestead also served in the US Army Reserves for 23 years with three active-duty deployments, Wright said.“He has an innate way of seeing through complex problems that involve people,” Wright said. “His first thought was always, do no harm. It was always, ‘Let’s see what we can do to not deploy any tactical [force].”His kindness was apparent to Officer JM D’Addio when D’Addio was transferred from the community policing unit to become a training officer, department quartermaster and building maintenance supervisor in October 2016. “You have to deal with all of these vendors and track everybody’s training and recertifications,” D’Addio said. “I was overwhelmed with all of these new jobs.”D’Addio came to work one day to find that Homestead had taken over all dispatch center matters, a huge load off of D’Addio and markedly different from what most other supervisors at Homestead’s level would typically do.“That’s when I knew he would always look out for me and be someone I could always look to and trust,” D’Addio said.Homestead will miss Wallingford, he said.“What has made this career rewarding is the people that I have worked for, the community, but especially the people I have worked with.”nsambides@record-journal.com

Working group urged to study training practices, certification for 911 dispatchers (MN)

Mar 20, 2021 | | 0 Comments

A 911 dispatcher receiving a frantic call for help needs to quickly assess what’s happening and make the right decision on what needs to be done.

“Dispatchers are essential to public safety,” says Rep. Spencer Igo (R-Grand Rapids).

He sponsors a proposal to establish a statewide working group to recommend minimum training and set continuing education standards for certification of 911 telecommunicators.

The House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee held over HF515, as amended, Thursday for possible omnibus bill inclusion. The companion, SF565, sponsored by Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria), awaits action by the Senate Finance Committee.

The working group would be organized by the Department of Public Safety and include representatives of organizations that operate and use the 911 response system in the state.

“Our dispatchers need to know how to keep us all safe,” Igo said. “And I can’t think of a better way than for a group of dispatchers to come together and work together to create standards and training procedures that work for them.”

The working group would:

recommend a statutory definition of 911 telecommunicators;

recommend minimum training and continuing education standards for certification of 911 telecommunicators;

recommend standards for certification of 911 telecommunicators;

recommend funding options for mandated 911 telecommunicator training; and

provide other recommendations the working group deems appropriate.

A report would be due to the Legislature by Jan. 15, 2022.

Emergency 911 dispatchers are the “backbone of the public safety system,” said Darlene Pankonie, communications center manager of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Communication Center.

“There is not a law enforcement, fire, or EMS incident that occurs without their support and vital communication,” she said. “These dedicated individuals, known as the first first responders, have waited decades to be officially recognized as public safety responders, to be given an adequate training foundation to support their necessary expansive knowledge base, to be certified for their multifaceted skill set, and finally, to be provided the benefits to sustain and protect them for their life-saving service to the community.”

The bill is supported by the Minnesota Fire Association Coalition, Metropolitan Emergency Services Board and National Association on Mental Illness – Minnesota.

NAMI specified its support was based on the appointment of a mental health crisis team provider to the working group, which was added by an amendment from Igo.

New NFPA standard for firefighter devices sets challenging benchmark for vendors

Mar 20, 2021 | , | 0 Comments

Firefighters’ RF devices and remote speaker microphones will have to pass unprecedented durability testing and include a data-logging capability—similar to a “black box” on an airplane—to achieve certification under the new standard published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
NFPA is well known for developing fire-safety standards for citizens and firefighters, but the NFPA 1802 standard that was published in January is the organization’s first that addresses the performance of RF devices—typically, two-way radios—and RSMs, according to Don Griffis, one of the L3Harris representatives who served on the technical committee that developed the standard.
“Every piece of equipment that [firefighters] put on to go into that burning structure is NFPA-certified—with the exception of their communications gear, the radio they’ve got on them,” Griffis said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Until January of this year, there wasn’t a standard for it, at all.”
And NFPA 1802 promises to be a difficult standard for device manufacturers to meet, as no fire radios—from L3Harris or other vendors—on the market today can meet the demanding durability testing, according to Griffis.
“The radios have to survive a 1,700-degree flame impingement … for 10 seconds while being fully operational. And it’s not just the radio—the NFPA calls for the radio and remote speaker mic that’s part of the system [to meet the NFPA 1802 standard],” he said. “It’s all got to work. And if you think that’s tough, there’s a 500-degree-for-5-minutes [test], and the radio has to operate and not melt.”
Given the materials used in existing fire radios, it is not surprising that none of the devices available in the marketplace today can withstand such environments, Griffis said.
“All radios that are manufactured today are made with either a polycarbonate or some other type of plastic. And when the NFPA testing is done on those, they melt,” he said.
As challenging as those pure heat tests are, they aren’t as difficult as one that is designed to evaluate whether a device can withstand the rigors of the fireground, where water can be as common as high temperatures, Griffis said.
“The 350-degree test is the hardest one,” Griffis said. “You think, ‘It’s a lower temperature, so it’s not so bad. You bake the radio at 350 for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off at 15 minutes, you’re going to reach in there with gloves and take this radio out. Within 30 seconds, the NFPA wants you take that radio and submerge it into two meters of water at 72 degrees for two hours. After two hours, you take the radio out, and you run it through its tests. It has to perform RF and audio, just like it when it was brand new, out of the box.
“If it passes, it goes back into the oven, and that test is repeated five more times. So it’s a total of six times going through that.”
Given the performance requirements in such difficult environments, the radio-development team at L3Harris turned to its Space & Airborne Systems division—a unit with experience dealing with the extreme heat and vibration challenges associated with devices re-entering the earth’s atmosphere after traveling in the cold temperatures of space, Griffis said.
In addition to its durability requirements, NFPA 1802 requires certified devices to including data-logging functionality, which can be used for forensic assessments of incidents—much like the way “black box” voice logs are used to determine what happened during the moments prior to an airplane crash.
“Every user interaction—the last 2,000 events—are stored in this hardened device that has a heat shield around it,” Griffis said. “Think of it as a ‘black box.’
“So, at any point in time, a user agency can retrieve the last 2,000 events that device has undergone—everything from when the unit powers on to when a user presses the push-to-talk button or the emergency button, when the battery changes from 100% down to 75% and down 50%, what channel or talk group they were on, when they received traffic. It is all logged in the radio. That’s big.”
Ken Rehbehn, Omdia’s senior principal analyst for public safety and critical communications—and a longtime volunteer firefighter—applauded the inclusion of this “flight-data recorder” feature in the NFPA 1802 standard.
“The unit will survive, and it will provide some important clues as to what was happening when things went bad. So, we will know about communication attempts by the person who is the victim … I believe that the way the standard is crafted, this is information that can be extracted forensically to investigate a line-of-duty death. That’s really the purpose of that information.”
Alan Tilles, a partner in the law firm of Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker, said he understands the forensic firefighting purposes of the data-logging capability but urged officials to consider creating policies to avoid potential unintended implications that have arisen with other public-safety and IoT devices.
“Every issue that comes up with a body camera would come up here,” Tilles said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “How do you store it? How do you ensure the security of the storage? How long do you keep it? I could go on and on and on.
“Every bit of information like that becomes both a shield and a sword. You’d love to use that information to get better at the job of firefighting, but you have to discuss, up front, all of the downsides … We’re not plowing new ground here, because we’ve seen the same issues with body cams.”
While the durability and performance capabilities of an NFPA 1802-compliant device promise to be great, there are concerns that these stringent requirements will mean the handset will be expensive—perhaps too expensive for some cash-strapped agencies.
Griffis acknowledged that pricing does tend to increase as manufacturers strive to achieve the high-performance, customized standards established by an organization like NFPA.
“There’s a lot of tech that’s in there, and the hardening of it is expensive,” Griffis said. “What I tell people … is that thermal-imaging camera—prior to NFPA certification—ran $1,100 to $2,500. Now, thermal-imaging cameras are $12,000 to $13,000.
“Now, I’m not saying that we’re going to be in that same realm, but the industry—the labor unions and the insurance companies—will be a forcing factor, I believe, to get that certification. And we’re going to keep it as affordable as we can.”
Griffis declined to discuss pricing or any details about any devices L3Harris is developing but did say that company officials are “confident we’ll meet the standard.”
“We’re committed to it, he said. “We feel very strongly about what the NFPA is asking for.”
Motorola Solutions—another vendor that participated on the NFPA committee to develop the NFPA 1802 standard—has published an executive summary stating that the company is “committed to bringing an NFPA 1802-compliant solution to market.”
Chris Farrell, NFPA staff liaison for the technical committee on Electronic Safety Equipment that created the standard, said that—like other NFPA standards—every local and state jurisdiction is allowed to adopt NFPA 1802, but none of them are required to do so.
Will the NFPA 1802 standard be adopted broadly, resulting in a wholesale replacement of fire radios throughout the United States in the near term?
Rehbehn said he believes the realities of budgeting will be big factors in determining how quickly NFPA 1802-compliant devices are bought for fire agencies.
“I did an informal poll to get a sense of what the impact will be,” Rehbehn said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “The consensus of the respondents was that they would not proactively upgrade their portables. However, if they were purchasing new portables, this will be a mandatory requirement, because it’s safety-related.
“They have the option of not requiring it, but it becomes a challenge, if there’s a death and the device was not meeting the state of the art—it becomes a difficult conversation in a courtroom … The impact of a jurisdiction deciding not to procure a unit with this capability could be financially challenging, if there’s a line-of-duty death or injury and the communications device was not to standard.”

Dispatcher recognized for work during January medical call (NY)

Mar 19, 2021 | | 0 Comments

MALONE — A dispatcher from Franklin County Emergency Services at Bare Hill Road was recently recognized for his work from the dispatch center during a medical call in Fort Covington, and was presented with a lifesaver pin.Emergency 911 dispatcher Chandler Shatraw was recognized for his efforts in walking a caller through CPR, helping the caller assist the patient before EMS arrived.According to Sandi Nichols, a senior communications specialist, the medical call took place at 4:26 p.m. Jan. 28 in Fort Covington. Shatraw received a call from an individual whose brother had collapsed on the floor and was not conscious.“Chandler performed an assessment to determine the patient’s breathing status, and determined that the patient was in cardiac arrest,” Nichols said. “After his assessment, he began providing the caller with instructions to perform chest compressions, high-quality chest compressions from CPR and it appears from what I was listening to on the recording that they maintained those compressions for approximately five minutes prior to the arrival of the EMS squad.”The patient was later reported to be alive and conscious upon arrival at the hospital, according to Nichols.“We do want to acknowledge Chandler’s efforts,” Nichols said. “For five minutes he gave them very good instructions, counted out loud with her as she did compressions.”Franklin County Fire Coordinator Ricky Provost said the lifesaver pin is something a dispatcher can wear on his uniform.“It’s a very small pin but it is a very huge award,” Nichols said. “It doesn’t happen often.”According to Provost, Nichols received the same award, 10 to 12 years ago, for her work during a medical call in Tupper Lake.Provost said during that call Nichols helped a grandchild successfully perform CPR on a grandparent.“Those are some of the positive things that dispatchers do that they don’t always get recognized for,” Provost said.
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MN House of Reps: Information for HF515

Mar 19, 2021 | | 0 Comments

Short Description: 911 telecommunicator working group statewide standards established for training and certification, and report required. Status of Bill in the HouseStatus of Bill in the SenateCommittee hearings and meeting minutesRecorded House Roll Call floor...

Alternatives to Policing, handling non-violent 911 calls

Mar 19, 2021 | , | 0 Comments

Amid the protests last summer that followed George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police, three Boston City Council members proposed an ordinance to divert nonviolent 911 calls away from the Boston Police Department. Those calls—often involving mental-health emergencies, homelessness, substance use, and traffic accidents—would be dispatched to community-safety officials in non-law-enforcement agencies instead. Last fall, Harvard Law School’s Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program volunteered to help city administrators think through concrete possibilities for how to change public-safety procedures. Two law students, William Roberts and Anna Vande Velde, spent several months as part of the program’s Dispute Systems Design Clinic, researching other cities’ approaches and interviewing Boston-area city officials. The pair also studied the multiple ways Boston’s public-safety system intersects with other local factors: racial bias, income inequality, access to medical and mental-health care, pipelines to prison from school or foster care, and substance-abuse rates—to name only a few. The inquiry yielded a report, released late last week.“We found a number of cities that were doing neat things,” says Roberts. In Texas, Houston and surrounding Harris County law enforcement officials have worked closely since the 1990s with a mental-health organization, the Harris Center, whose clinicians assist officers in responding to crises; clinicians themselves respond to mental-health emergency calls, and the organization serves as a crisis drop-off center for police officers bringing in people who need such support. In Eugene, Oregon, the Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets Program (CAHOOTS) has been operating for 30 years. Police dispatchers send unarmed medical and mental-health workers (without law-enforcement officers) in response to reports of mental-health crises, substance abuse, or homelessness. The CAHOOTS workers arrive wearing casual clothes in a van with a dove painted on the side, and are trained to handle a range of problems, from conflict resolution and suicide prevention to offering first aid or a ride to better-equipped services. In 2019, CAHOOTS responded to roughly 24,000 calls and requested police backup only 150 times. Based on those examples—and similar collaborative efforts in more than a dozen other cities including Denver, New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston itself—Roberts and Vande Velde developed a series of recommendations that included: creating crisis drop-off centers; establishing a mechanism for follow-up on cases by mental-health or social workers; adding a mental-health question to the 911 dispatch script; creating a mental-health division within the police department itself; and requiring crisis intervention training for all officers. The report also spelled out a number of stakeholder groups whose input would be important in outlining reforms: police-reform advocates, police-department representatives, dispatch employees, the Boston Emergency Services Team, social workers and mental-health professionals, and local residents from communities that see disproportionate numbers of stops and arrests by law enforcement. Citing a successful program in Maryland, the report also recommended offering re-entry and mediation services to incarcerated people before their release from prison, to help them make connections with friends and family who will serve as supports, and to foster (sometimes difficult) conversations that will also help prepare them for life on the outside. “A surprising and salient thing that kept recurring in our discussions with experts in other cities,” says Roberts, is the “incredibly broad range of skills that might be called on and needed” by first responders. Other cities’ reforms had broadened the training and tools available to their emergency-response systems.He added that Boston has already begun to undertake some of these reforms. Mental-health clinicians accompany officers to some calls as part of the police department’s Co-Response Program, and there are less-formal collaborations as well. “Boston doesn’t need to reinvent its public-safety system,” he asserts. “The relationships and connections with mental-health organizations are there. What needs to happen, in our view, is a formalization of those connections, and a further expansion.” The report’s other major component analyzed the effects of race and racism on how law enforcement is carried out in Boston. “That’s critical to consider in any public-safety reform,” Roberts says. “It’s something the experts and stakeholders we spoke with were very concerned about and felt would be necessary as Boston looks at its own system.”  Alexandra NatapoffPhotograph by Lydialyle Gibson The report’s recommendations and Roberts’s observations closely echoed some of the remarks at a recent Law School panel discussion revolving around the work of Kreindler professor of law Alexandra Natapoff.  Her 2018 book, Punishment Without Crime: How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal, inspired a documentary released this year, Racially Charged: America’s Misdemeanor Problem. After an online screening last week, Natapoff moderated a conversation among panelists that included Suffolk County district attorney Rachael Rollins and Guggenheim professor of criminal justice Sandra Susan Smith (see Harvard Magazine’s profile in the forthcoming May-June issue).Rollins lamented the “comorbidity factors” that often entangle people—including close members of her own family—in the criminal justice system: “substance-use disorder, mental health, food and housing insecurity, and other circumstances that are far beyond their control. We penalize people for being poor every single day.” Smith pointed to the growing body of research showing that “in high-crime communities, which are disproportionately low-income communities of color, police are doing more harm than good.” She argued for dramatically scaling back law enforcement in favor of alternative models of public safety (and like Roberts, she praised Oregon’s CAHOOTS program). Sandra Susan SmithPhotograph by Lydialyle Gibson “Very little of the time that police officers spend at work involves actual crime fighting,” Smith said, “and this is the case even in the most dangerous neighborhoods or communities. In Baltimore in 1999, the most violent and most addicted and most abandoned city in America, regular patrol officers spent 11 percent of their time on crime.” In other places, she added, it’s below 1 percent. Especially in communities that suffer from both overpolicing (excessive stops and arrests, unconstitutional searches, routine confrontations) and underpolicing (which leaves many crimes unsolved  and residents without help when they need it), Smith said, “It makes sense to start to consider other options for achieving safety. And we have an abundance of research that shows directions that we can go.”

City Council Reviews 911 System (CA)

Mar 19, 2021 | | 0 Comments

The Beverly Hills City Council reviewed the operating efficiency of the city’s Emergency Communications Center (911 dispatch) at its March 16 Study Session meeting, following growing concerns about emergency line wait time. At the meeting, Beverly Hills Police...

3 Common Challenges 911 Centers Face During Outages

Mar 19, 2021 | , | 0 Comments

Challenge 1: Dialing 911 When a Network Is InoperableWhen the wireless cell network is inoperable, the first barrier is the 911 call itself. The single most important aspect of 911 service is alerting first responders at local PSAPs that an emergency is taking place. Callers expect to connect with a telecommunicator right away when they dial for emergency services, but instead they receive a busy signal.
According to the National Emergency Number Association, more than 80 percent of all 911 calls come from mobile devices, and cloud-based 911 platforms can receive location data directly from Apple and Google when an emergency call is placed from an iOS or Android device. These capabilities are highly resilient and network agnostic, meaning they stay operational during a network outage.
Even if the 911 call never connects to the PSAP, a 911 telecommunicator will see that a 911 call was made from a specific phone number at a specific location, so the 911 center can dispatch a first responder to the scene.
EXPLORE: How to build an effective emergency operations center.
Challenge 2: Answering the 911 Call During an Outage
If a local network is down, the immediate fix is to route incoming emergency calls to other 911 centers in the area so that no call goes unanswered. However, it’s possible the primary PSAP that was supposed to receive the call doesn’t even know a backup PSAP is taking calls for them.
These arrangements are ad hoc, and backup PSAPs typically don’t receive location information for the call through the traditional Automatic Location Identification (ALI) system.
In a normal 911 call, the PSAP retrieves the caller’s approximate location from the ALI database, but with transferred calls, telecommunicators must verbally question callers to determine their location. This isn’t practical, given that the personnel at the backup PSAP typically has no familiarity with the geography of other PSAPs. Further, their mapping capabilities are often limited to their own jurisdiction.
An integrated, cloud-based system can receive supplemental location data separately from legacy ALI systems and can provide accurate and timely location information even when rerouted to a backup PSAP.
Challenge 3: Dispatching a Response to the 911 Call
Even when an ad hoc backup PSAP is able to answer the 911 call and successfully determine both the location of the caller and the nature of the emergency, getting the appropriate emergency services agency to respond represents another barrier.
Backup PSAPs typically don’t have access to unit availability or response plans for areas outside of their immediate jurisdiction, so they may need to rely on a telephone or radio connection to relay information back to the original PSAP. These details are contained in a Continuity of Operations Plan, a document that represents all the disaster preparation within a PSAP.
Without significant capabilities in the cloud, though, disaster planning and interoperability is limited. Widespread adoption of cloud-based 911 technologies and cloud-aided dispatch would create an environment in which backup agencies could enter incident information into their own system and it would be transferred to the original PSAP via a standards-based integration. This would allow the agency that has the jurisdiction to dispatch even without being able to receive the original 911 call.
READ MORE: What steps need to be taken when your agency is deploying an emergency operations center?
The Path Toward More Resilient Public Safety Operations
For resilient end-to-end workflows and geographical diversity of dispatch operations, state and local agencies need to think beyond just answering 911 calls and should consider full-scale digital transformation for the disaster recovery and backup capabilities.
It can take months or years to convince all of the stakeholders involved of the need to do this, however, and in the meantime, there is plenty local officials can accomplish by merely building redundancies to their on-premises dispatch system in the cloud.
The goal of every 911 center is to quickly and efficiently field emergency calls and dispatch the necessary services. With the vast majority of Americans calling 911 from their mobile devices, it’s critical that there be guardrails in place to handle inevitable network outages.
Everyone in the public safety world has a story of an unexpected catastrophe that slowed emergency response time, but we are nearing the day that such outages can be easily handled. Resiliency is in the cloud.
MORE FROM STATETECH: How are FirstNet services evolving for first responders?

FirstNet touts roll in vaccine distribution

Mar 19, 2021 | , | 0 Comments

As the U.S. accelerates vaccinations in anticipation of meeting the President’s goal of being ready to open up availability to all adults by May 1, a cross-industry response has been deployed to meet the logistical needs, safety concerns and scale of the mammoth operation. FirstNet, Built with AT&T – the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to and purpose-built for America’s first responders and the extended public safety community – is giving public safety agencies a common, interoperable platform to easily communicate across agencies, jurisdictions and state lines. During the vaccination rollout, FirstNet’s inherent interoperable communications is critical. Through innovative solutions, public safety agencies, local and state governments, and healthcare organizations using FirstNet are helping to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine efficiently and effectively.

From coast to coast, FirstNet is helping those charged with coordination of the vaccine distribution across America to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Western States

In California, Palomar Health set-up a resource clinic in Escondido equipped with FirstNet enabled tablets and smartphones where commercial coverage presented a connectivity issue. The “triple threat” site offers drive-thru testing, vaccination and monoclonal therapy, an antibody therapy that could keep symptomatic patients away from the hospital.

Up north, the Seattle Fire Department’s mobile vaccination teams are using FirstNet mobile devices to help coordinate their efforts across the city and maximize efficiency in supplying vaccinations to those living in adult family homes, permanent supportive and affordable housing, as well as pop-up clinics throughout the city.

Southern Region

FirstNet is being used as primary and backup connectivity for drive-thru vaccinations for the Galveston County Health District in partnership with the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management, and League City Office of Emergency Management. Clinicians use mobile devices to log-in to the patient portal and manage the entire process from registration to release after vaccine. FirstNet is also being used to monitor the drive-thru vaccination location via cameras powered by FirstNet. This allows law enforcement to monitor vehicle traffic as the vehicles move through the location from registration to release. Lastly, FirstNet is being used within their League City Fire Marshal’s Office command trailer to assist in connecting devices for general use and video conferencing.

Midwest

In rural Illinois, Perry County Health Department is using FirstNet connected tablets and hotspots to operate remote COVID-19 clinics. Additionally, home health nurses in Perry County are using FirstNet connected tablets to manage scheduling and electronic paperwork.

Spectrum Health is using FirstNet on smartphones at the West Michigan Vaccine Clinic in Grand Rapids. The healthcare provider also used Portable Data Network (PDN) kits at COVID-19 testing sites. A PDN is an all-inclusive mobile suitcase equipped with a modem and FirstNet connectivity that provides highly secure internet access – think ultimate Wi-Fi hotspot – wherever you take it.

East Coast

Howard County Fire & Rescue Services is using FirstNet on tablets and smartphones with their Mobile Integrated Community Health team delivering COVID-19 vaccinations to individuals who are developmentally disabled or who live in group or congregate living facilities. The vaccine distribution team is comprised of personnel from Howard County Fire and affiliated agencies.

In New Jersey, Capital Health is using FirstNet on tablets and smartphones to check in patients at its Trenton and Hopewell inoculation sites, while Inspira Health Network is using FirstNet for stand-alone hotspots and smartphones with hotspot capability at its vaccination site.

We believe FirstNet is the most important wireless network in the country because it’s serving our first responders and the extended public safety community. Shaped by the vision of the first responder community and Congress following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, FirstNet stands above commercial offerings. It is built with AT&T in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) – an independent agency within the federal government. The FirstNet network is providing public safety with truly dedicated coverage and capacity when they need it, unique benefits like always-on priority and preemption for first responders, and high-quality Band 14 spectrum. These advanced capabilities help fire, EMS, healthcare workers and law enforcement save lives and protect their communities.

FirstNet

Red Deer MLAs vote against a bill to restore local ambulance dispatching (Canada)

Mar 19, 2021 | | 0 Comments

Red Deer’s two UCP MLAs chose political partisanship over protecting their constituents’ interests by opposing a bill that would have restored local ambulance dispatching, says Red Deer’s mayor.
“Monday’s vote speaks to the challenge of party politics and the conflict between partisanship and the party line, and the need for our political representatives to represent the community’s opinion,” said Mayor Tara Veer.
Red Deer North MLA Adriana LaGrange and Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan joined their UCP cohort on Monday by voting against restoring local ambulance service in the legislature — despite a long campaign by Red Deer’s mayor, city council and Emergency Services Chief Ken McMullen to sound the alarm over how consolidated ambulance dispatching jeopardizes public health.
Veer, who’s repeatedly stated local dispatching saves lives and is in the community’s interest, said their vote was “deflating” but not surprising.
LaGrange and Stephan explained their positions in emails to the Advocate. The MLAs stated that Alberta Health Services has used the consolidated system to dispatch ambulances successfully for 60 per cent of Albertans since 2009, including the Edmonton area.
They added the change-over occurred nearly two months ago and is “working well.”
LaGrange and Stephan said AHS has reviewed and responded to all of the specific concerns raised by Red Deer, and assured them that the switch has not impacted performance.
Meanwhile, the Mayors of Red Deer, Calgary, Lethbridge, and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, have been lobbying the government for months to step in and reverse Alberta Health Services’ decision to consolidate ambulance dispatch to a few centralized hubs.
The change took place in January, but the four communities want to bring back a local ambulance dispatch system that’s integrated with local fire dispatch, saying it works best since they have cross-trained fire-medics.
Veer said she and McMullen has multiple meetings with LaGrange and Stephan to explain their concerns. “They’ve been afforded technical briefings… we’ve toured them through the dispatch centre…”
Since January, McMullen has spoken out about some ambulances being misdirected by dispatchers unfamiliar with the area. He said some sick or injured people have also waited too long for far-away ambulance crews to arrive, while local fire-medics — who were closer and cross-trained to help at medical emergencies — were sitting in their stations, unaware of the 911 ambulance calls.
Related:
-Red Deer loses local ambulance dispatching
-Glitches already noticed in new dispatching system
-Kenney restates support for centralized dispatch
Monday’s defeated legislature bill urged the government to take into consideration the views of the residents of Calgary, Lethbridge, and Red Deer, “who are well served by a local, integrated model of emergency dispatch,” and take immediate steps to reverse the decision to implement the centralization of the dispatch of emergency medical services.
It was shot down by a vote of 22-7. Only NDP MLAs voted for it.
Veer noted Fort-McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Tany Yao chose to abstain rather than voting along with her other UCP members, in recognition of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo’s battle to restore local ambulance dispatching service.
LaGrange said she opposed the bill because “Minister Shandro respects the cities’ concerns and has put a process in place for Alberta Health and AHS to work with the City of Red Deer to continue to improve EMS services, including reinvesting every dollar saved directly back into improving ground ambulance services.
“I’m confident that continued oversight and review on how the new service is working will continue during this transition period,” LaGrange said, adding “The NDP’s attempt to politicize the issue for their own purposes adds nothing.”
Stephan said AHS is “working with our community to continue to improve EMS services, including reinvesting efficiency gains to improve our EMS services. At this juncture, it appears more productive to work within this established process, rather than contending and re-litigating a settled decision, for good or ill, where dispatch change-over already occurred about two months ago.”
Veer said she and the other three mayors will not stop trying to bring back local ambulance dispatching.

lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

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Why Android is emerging as the OS of choice for public safety

Mar 19, 2021 | , | 0 Comments

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Why Android is emerging as the OS of choice for public safety

By Bree BergmanMar 18, 2021

As Microsoft phases out support for its mobile operating systems, many public-sector agencies that previously relied on Windows-based mobile computers are evaluating strategies to migrate to Android.

Android has an 85% market share globally, which makes it very user-friendly. It also offers a number of key benefits to enterprise users that aren’t available with other OS options. Of course, migrating agencies to a new technology is not as easy as buying a mobile device from a local retail store or wireless carrier. Public-safety IT professionals should prioritize their unique security and operational needs when shopping for a new mobility solution. Here are some key questions to ask when evaluating the various OS options and comparing consumer-grade, business-grade and enterprise-grade rugged devices.

What applications are required?

Public-safety organizations, especially police and fire departments, require rugged communications devices that support a wide range of use cases, including highly secure voice communications, real-time navigation, e-citation and code enforcement, asset and inventory tracking and more. A pocketable device might work for one team, while a larger screen might be appropriate for another where users require access to multiple applications simultaneously. Devices may need to be used with gloved hands, in bright sunlight or in rain and snow — and they likely require robust batteries that last through long shifts. Not all devices marketed as rugged are designed to meet these challenges.

Can this solution be customized to comply with current IT and security requirements?

It is vital to ensure that a technology solution can comply with an organization’s existing IT guidelines. For example, some federal, state and local government agencies have limitations on whether their professionals can carry devices that access the cloud — either for security reasons or because they don’t have enough resources to support a cloud-based deployment.

In this case, consumer devices purchased from a wireless carrier may not be appropriate, as applications commonly preloaded on consumer devices — such as Google Mobile Services — often operate through the cloud. Selecting an enterprise-grade device that can restrict access to applications and services such as GMS can give public-safety agencies a higher security level without requiring any additional IT resources.

As another enhanced security measure, an IT department may want to consider privilege-based access and trusted execution environment controls, which give IT full control over which applications are installed and what data those applications can access. Some public-sector agencies may choose to disable Bluetooth or USB ports, which can make devices more vulnerable to attacks and allow the easy transfer of sensitive data. Others may want the option to insert a smart ID card or common access card for access control.

What extra features can be implemented?

Often, enterprise-grade devices provide customization tools that enable a wide variety of productivity, security, management and application development options for public-sector IT departments. Some tools allow the customization of Wi-Fi settings for specialized environments. Others support zero-touch device provisioning for faster technology deployments and include private cloud or side loading off network. Still others allow users to create a custom keyboard that supports an agency’s unique vocabulary without requiring any third-party software. Some enterprise-grade devices even offer data wedge tools that read barcodes, track RFID tags or even enable basic voice recognition with existing applications.

What is the lifecycle of these technologies?

Public-sector agencies should consider the average device lifecycle as part of the evaluation process. Agencies simply cannot afford to replace devices every 24 months, which is about the typical consumer device lifecycle in the U.S., according to the research firm Kantar Worldpanel. The reality is that many consumer device vendors only guarantee security support for two to three years. In sharp contrast, some enterprise device vendors guarantee OS support for up to 10 years. With purpose-built devices, public-safety agencies can rest assured knowing they will not have to replace their existing devices before they are ready.

Who controls OS upgrades?

With consumer devices, OS updates are typically forced upon device users. Management tools may offer to postpone updates, but there is usually just a short window for this delay, forcing users to upgrade whether they want to or not. For many enterprise solutions, quite the opposite is true. Public-sector IT departments have control over their OS upgrades, which means upgrades can be delayed until all suppliers or application partners are ready to migrate to the newest OS. IT can even revert back to a past release if an issue arises. Besides, some enterprise vendors will continue to issue OS patches long after an OS upgrade is available.

Looking forward

In a recent Zebra Technologies survey of public-safety agencies, 72% of respondents said they are concerned they are not investing in new mobile technology fast enough. With software updates discontinued for the Windows Mobile OS, there has never been a better time for public-safety agencies to migrate to Android-based enterprise-grade devices that offer more security, productivity and lifecycle benefits than legacy solutions — on today’s consumer-grade devices.  

Ex-OR Fire Chief Brought on for Public Safety Reform

Mar 18, 2021 | | 0 Comments

Mike Myers, Portland’s former fire chief and the city’s current emergency management director, has been selected to serve as the city’s new community safety transition director.In his third major job for the city, Myers will be responsible for guiding systemic change in all of Portland’s public safety bureaus, looking for ways to save money by integrating fiscal or other business operations between bureaus and helping to create a public safety strategic plan for the city.Myers said he wants to be clear that his role is not intended to be “a super chief.”The police and fire chiefs and the directors of emergency communications and emergency management will have autonomy over their bureaus and report to their respective city commissioners.“I am really there to provide an administrative business sense at that strategic level and help guide them, support them” to move into the future, he said.Myers, 53, is set to start the new job on April 1. His annual salary will be $197,246, identical to his current one as the director of emergency management, according to Heather Hafer, spokeswoman for the city Office of Management and Finance.City Administrative Officer Thomas Rinehart sought $300,000 in last fall’s adjustment budget for the position, which includes Myers’ salary, plus benefits and staff support. The money comes from each of the city’s public safety bureaus: police, fire, emergency communications and emergency management.Myers was one of the few people who applied for the job when it was open only to city employees. The city then decided to hold a national search and selected Myers.Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioners Jo Ann Hardesty and Mingus Mapps, as the three who oversee Portland’s public safety bureaus, interviewed finalists for the new position this month. They said Myers established himself as a capable leader for the city’s transformation.Rinehart has been an outspoken advocate for this new position, saying the public safety bureaus need managerial consistency.The four bureaus together make up 40 percent of the city’s general fund. Portland has had six different police chiefs in six years and rotating police, fire and emergency communications commissioners based on mayoral and City Council elections.Myers resigned as Portland’s fire chief in January 2019 to lead emergency management in Cannon Beach, saying at the time that he wanted to be closer to his wife, who had moved to Gearhart.Four months later, Myers returned to the city after Hardesty called him and asked him to serve as the city’s emergency management director. He and his wife moved back to Portland.Myers told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he will be encouraging bureau leaders to find ways to avoid duplication of services, whether in financial management, technology or public information.He also said he’ll examine how the city can better redirect low-level, non-emergency or medical calls away from 911 emergency dispatch to a non-police response.Myers echoed statements Hardesty made previously about the new position, saying he hoped to break down the public safety silos to reach a shared community safety vision.He will work out of the city’s Office of Management and Finance and report to the chief administrative officer. He’s expected to help guide the work of the public safety bureau chiefs or directors and provide quarterly reports to the City Council.Rinehart said the idea originated when Danielle Outlaw was still police chief. Outlaw served a short two-year tenure as Portland’s police chief before she left in late December 2019 to take the top police job in Philadelphia.Under the city’s plan, the bureaus will strive to have integrated budgets, capital improvement plans and union bargaining strategies by fiscal 2022-23.Alan Ferschweiler, president of the Portland Firefighters’ Association, objected to the new position, saying it would simply add “another layer of bureaucracy” and was concerned that the money for the job will take funding away from line firefighters, police or 911 dispatchers or facility or equipment repairs.The heads of the city’s public safety bureaus met last month with the City Council in a work session to discuss ways to coordinate their work.“We do not have all the answers to our community’s challenges. We have an exciting opportunity in front of us to work as a team, across the community safety bureaus to reimagine community safety,” said Ryan Gillespie, Fire Bureau division chief.Bob Cozzie, director of the Bureau of Emergency Communications, said nearly half of the calls answered by the bureau’s call takers are non-emergency. In the last year, the bureau answered over 520,000 911 calls that were truly emergencies and more than 487,000 administrative or non-emergency calls.“Almost half of our business is non-emergency right now,” Cozzie said, “and I’d like to see us shift away from that.”The city is working to divert non-emergency calls to a 311 number for a non-police response.Bureau leaders also have discussed combining efforts on how to recruit and hire potential applicants, particularly people of color, to fill vacancies.Hardesty said what has stood out to her is “how much the health of our community is tied to these bureaus.” She said she hopes the future talks focus on who the right responders should be to different calls for services and how the city can divert more money to community-based services.While there are many community-based groups now considering ideas on how to revise the future of policing, Hardesty sounded a note of caution that “until we have all those pieces put together, it will be really hard to have a vision for what community safety looks like for each bureau.”Myers said he’ll take input from bureau chiefs and residents and also look at how the city’s services fit with county public safety programs, including the sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices.“My job is to listen to community members,” he said. He doesn’t plan to reinvent the community programs already in place, he said.Wheeler said he hopes that the new director “can help coordinate the values, the strategies, and then the tactics and investments required to create a system” that’s more cost-effective and efficient.— Maxine BernsteinEmail at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian___(c)2021 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)Visit The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) at www.oregonian.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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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