A bipartisan effort is underway in Congress to reclassify public safety telecommunicators (PSTs) as Protective Service Occupations. Currently, the federal Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) classifies PSTs as administrative/clerical in nature, something APCO has been fighting to correct.

This week, Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-CA) and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) sent a letter to their colleagues in the House of Representatives seeking support for a draft bill that would fix the SOC by appropriately classifying PSTs with other "Protective" occupations. With their respective backgrounds as a 9-1-1 dispatcher and FBI agent, they understand the lifesaving nature of the work performed by PSTs.  

APCO has been working closely with Rep. Torres' office to craft a simple legislative solution. The bill is expected to be introduced later this month. In the meantime, Reps. Torres and Fitzpatrick are building a coalition of co-sponsors. APCO will continue to champion this effort as we have for the past number of years and will provide updates as they become available.  

For more information on the SOC and reclassification effort, visit www.apcointl.org/soc. 

Lend your expertise to a variety of sessions on NG9-1-1. The deadline is tonight, February 15, so don't miss your chance.

Review the list of sessions to see where your (or others') knowledge and experience fits, then submit an application.

With only a few hours left until the deadline, now is the time to submit your application for a scholarship for APCO’s Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE) Program. Whether you have not yet begun an application or have only partially completed one, you don’t have much time to click the “submit” button to be considered for a CPE scholarship. The deadline for submission is 11:59 p.m. ET tonight, February 15. Apply now

• Core Competencies and Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Communications Manager/Director (Revision)
• Detecting Early Warning Symptoms of Stress in Public Safety Telecommunicators (New standard)

APCO is looking for volunteers to participate in working groups to contribute their knowledge of operations, training or technical aspects of the emergency communications center. For more information

Is your team inspirational?  Are they a lot of fun? Do they have your back? Tell us what makes your work team great and you could win a free lunch (up to $100). Visit npstw.org/lunch to enter your team and npstw.org/like to vote for your favorites.

A Standards Development Working Group is currently revising the standard for Common Incident Type Codes for Data Exchange. They need as many comm centers as possible to take a short survey so they can gather important data for the revision. Fill out the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J5BLLNW
Learn more about the standard.

NICE Transformational Global Policing Summit to Showcase the Power of Digital Evidence Management and Robotic Automation

Ericsson Launches Critical Communications Broadband Networks Offering

B&E Electronics and Zetron Provide Communication Systems Continuity for ModUcom Public Safety Sites