The 911 emergency response system in the U.S. has been in use since 1968. A University of Chicago initiative aims to modernize and strengthen the system – and they’ve just published a blueprint for how to do it.

The Aurora City Council will consider about a $1.34 million project to upgrade the facility where emergency calls are answered and dispatched in the city. The city’s public safety answering point, and backup communications center, has not been updated since it was...

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) – A man is thankful for an Atlanta 9-1-1 dispatcher who walked him through how to safely get out of his car after heavy rains caused flash flooding. Tobreshia Horn answered the call during which the driver said his car was quickly filling with...

The challenges are still here today. Staffing challenges are everywhere, from the service industry to airline pilots. It is going to take some time for things to balance out — if they ever do. Our older workforce with baby boomers retiring more and more every day is...

It takes a special kind of person to be a 911 dispatcher, says Dispatch Supervisor Jennifer Pitt, who has worked at the Multi-Agency Communications Center for about 17 years. “It’s not for the weak-hearted,” Pitt said. “It really takes a special kind of person to do...

Seven months after warning about a brewing staffing crisis, Luzerne County 911 Executive Director Fred Rosencrans is thankful county council has approved a new union contract with higher wages. “I am relieved,” Rosencrans said. “I truly appreciate the county manager...

After experiencing the summer of 2021 when Bucks County suffered through tornadoes, flooding and the lasting effects of the pandemic tested, and highlighted the need, for upgrades to the county Emergency Operations Center in Ivyland. Officials broke ground Thursday on...

WASHINGTON (7News) — The D.C. Auditor isn't taking her eye off of the problems and failed leadership at the District's 9-1-1 call center. The 7News I-team has learned there are two follow-up audits in the works on the heels of a scathing investigation of the...

After two successful months of serving in the position on an interim basis, Chris Key has been named the full-time Public Safety Director for Pittsylvania County. Key has decades of experience in public safety and fire service management and operations.

The average span of an emergency dispatcher’s career is only 3 - 5 years.  Carol Keeler retires on Thursday, June 30, with 29 years served with the Michigan State Police and another five with a different agency. The job she has performed for over three decades is...

Tucson's mayor and police chief say cities need to take a fresh look at how they respond to emergencies. Speaking in New Orleans Wednesday morning, Mayor Regina Romero referred to the case of Carlos Adrian Ingram Lopez, a Tucson man who died in police custody two...

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Greene County 911 dispatcher accused in a lawsuit of failing to send help for a dying woman is facing charges. Leon Price is charged with involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, official oppression and obstructing the...

SAN ANTONIO - First responders were not ready for what they found Monday night when they opened an abandoned 18-wheeler on the Southwest Side. A recording provided by Broadcastify.com shows the communications between City of San Antonio dispatch and those first...

MANCHESTER — Despite residents voting against the move, Manchester will regionalize its public safety dispatch operations with North Shore Regional 911 Center of Middleton. Selectmen voted 4-1 in favor of the move at a meeting last Tuesday. Selectmen are the ultimate...

SEATTLE — In Seattle, the city says it receives about 900,000 emergency 911 calls a year. The high call volume combined with a lack of officers right now has the city looking at alternatives. The city wants to see if community service officers, crisis response...

The internet was out for days, calls were affected, including 911 service. ST JOHNS, Arizona — The Arizona Corporation Commission is having staff draft a list of steps Frontier Communications will need to take to prevent similar outages to one earlier this month in...

The Arkansas 911 Board has not received the required plans from any of the state's counties to consolidate 911 operations to comply with a 2019 law, C.J. Engel, executive director of the Arkansas 911 Board, said in an interview. Under the Public Safety Act of 2019,...

As the Durham, North Carolina, Community Safety Department (DCSD) prepares for changes to its computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, it launched four pilot programs that could change how the city responds to emergency calls involving mental health crises.

  The center is designed to help responders and technology designers simulate various scenarios, such as simulations of search and rescue activities or coordinated, complex terrorist attacks. FirstNet Authority Chief Network and Technology Officer Jeffrey Bratcher...

SANTA FE, N.M. — Bernard "Buster" Brown inherited a severe staffing shortage at the local 911 dispatch center when he stepped into its top job in November. The New York native, with more than 25 years of experience in emergency dispatch centers, vowed to address the...