With over 235 attendees, representing 35 states as well as the District of Columbia and Canada, APCO’s 6th Annual Broadband Summit has come to a close. Read more.

The admissions committee for APCO’s Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE) Program has selected 20 applicants to participate in the inaugural CPE class, which begins July 6. The class includes participants from 13 states and Canada. Qualified applicants not selected for the July class have been placed on the waiting list for the second CPE course. Dates for that class will be announced soon.

The CPE Program is an intensive leadership development program designed specifically for the public safety communications industry. It consists of two 12-week online courses and a nine-day capstone course held at APCO International headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. Graduates earn the professional designation of Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE).

Applications for the program are accepted year-round. Download a CPE Program application.

The FCC placed five 700MHz regional plan modifications on public notice on April 11, 2016. The plans had to be modified to address the application process for the "former reserve" frequencies released by the FCC in October of 2014. Plan modifications had to be filed by October 30, 2015. Comments on the following plan modifications were due by May 11, 2016. If no comments were received, the plans were considered approved with no further action required by the FCC. The regions are: Region 12 (Idaho), Region 13 (Illinois), Region 18 (Louisiana), Region 23 (Mississippi) and Region 37 (South Carolina).

APCO’s License Management Service (LMS) includes a detailed analysis of each license and provides licensees with a report including any outstanding requirements or upcoming expiration dates, and a spreadsheet making it easy to view license data in one document. The ongoing monitoring will assist licensees with keeping their licenses in compliance with FCC rules and regulations and ensure that required notifications or license renewals are processed by their deadline dates. For questions, contact Katherine Reynolds at 386-944-2469.

APCO International is pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Public Safety Communications Awards and Technology in Leadership Awards.

Mission Critical Communications FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said it’s time to put the 9-1-1 grant funding included in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to work for 9-1-1 jurisdictions.

RCR Wireless News Ohio’s FirstNet program has developed a first-person video game to showcase the potential of the First Responders Network Authority’s LTE network-to-be, and the value that increased access to data and connectivity can have for situational awareness.

CBS Philly A spokesman says Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf will sign a bill intended to protect the privacy of 9-1-1- callers. In response to a Right-To-Know request, release of the name, telephone number and home address of people who call 9-1-1 would be prohibited in most circumstances.

The Observer Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network is offering an important free service called Emergency Profile for residents that can assist if they are in an emergency and have to call 9-1-1.

IWCE’s Urgent Communications FirstNet plans to provide state-of-the-art cybersecurity by employing innovative methods that offerors are expected to propose in the request-for-proposals (RFP) process, but the entire public safety community needs to take action to help ensure subscriber agencies are not negatively impacted by cyber threats.

WCYB.com Washington County, Va., dispatchers answer hundreds of calls a day and monitor more than 17 different agencies responding to calls. Though there is constant radio contact with officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, mobile data terminals, or MDTs, are making the task more manageable.