Post 9 of the Kentucky State Police in Pikeville was struck by tragedy several times before the New Year. The post covers 9 counties with 48 troopers and detectives. Trooper Jonathan Leonard, 28, was killed mid-December in an auto accident. Then Det. Stewart Howard, 45, died of a heart attack at the end of December, and Trooper Billy Caudill, 24, was seriously injured in an auto accident. Lastly, a trooper and another officer shot a suspect to death after a vehicle chase. All the incidents were handled by the post’s dispatchers, but have been helped by dispatchers from other posts who volunteered to help out.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that the FCC’s 120-day deadline for implementing VoIP/E911 services was reasonable, putting more bite into the Commission’s attempt to get all types of 911 callers directly connected to their local PSAP. The ruling in a lawsuit brought by several companies that provide telephone service via IP connection, or voice over IP (VoIP). The companies claimed the FCC didn’t take into account the difficulty and cost of implementing E911 service. But the court said the companies had not met their burden of proof that the FCC’s order was, ““arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” But the court said that the company Intrado was offering a solution when the FCC issued its deadline, and both Vonage and Verizon had said they would use the service. The court also ruled against several other arguments presented by the companies. Download (pdf) a copy of the court’s ruling here.

Bay County officials say they understand the federal requirement to use plain English on the radio in order to qualify for federal grants, but that they won’t be phasing out 10-Codes completely. “We’re still business as usual,” said Panama City police Maj. David Humphreys. “‘I guess it’s kind of the ol’, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’” The county has received over $3 million in grants since 2001. Read about the county’s radio communications here.

Former Mesilla Valley (NM) Regional Dispatch Authority interim director Sylvia Smith has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that she was fired in retaliaition for pointing out policy violations for former director Sam Palm. Smith was fired in March 2005, following her allegations that Palm used county time and staffing to campaign for legislative office. Palm resigned in April 2004, and Smith claims that loyal Palm employees targeted her for firing. Palm claimed he campaigned on his own time. The Authority board sent Smith a letter saying she was being fired for prior admitted marijuana use. Read more of the story here.

NENA says that 80% of the nation’s population now reside in areas where PSAPs have Phase II wireless locating service. In a press release the association said that figure is an 11% increase from one year ago. In addition, NENA said that 70% of the nation’s PSAPs now have Phase II capabilities, a 13% increase from Jan. 2006. However, the group noted, “While this progress is certainly welcome, just under half of the nation’s 3,135 counties, primarily located in rural areas, still cannot provide this critical service to their residents.” NENA President Jason Barbour said NENA expects implementation of Phase II to slow down in the coming year, “as the remaining counties lacking the technology are primarily more rural, under-funded areas.” NENA said 78% of counties have Phase 1 service, which provides a wireless 911 caller’s phone number and receiving tower site. Detailed state and county statistics on Phase I/II are located here.

The Henderson County (NC) Sheriff’s Department serves 97,217 residents, of which 7% are Hispanic, according to Census Bureau figures. However, a newspaper article notes that the agency’s comm center has no bi-lingual dispatchers. The county has experienced a surge of Spanish-speaking residents, the newspaper notes, increasing the chances that 911 callers will speak Spanish, too. Read about the county’s attempt to recruit and hire bi-lingual dispatchers here.

Wenham (Mass.) police chief Ken Walsh began his police career as a dispatcher, and now is advocating a plan to consolidate comm centers in Essex County, home to 380,000 residents. The plan would bring 19 communities under control of a single center, possibly by 2010. However, not all the politicians in the county are supporting the plan. Read more about the debate here.

Queensland Police Service (Australia) dispatcher Bruce Nicholls has created a new Web site to begin collecting, “all the funny things that happen in the land of Emergency Services Communications across the world.” Besides providing a collection of interesting stories, Nicholls says it will, “show how small our world is and that people are the same the world over.” Surf the brand-new site and share your stories here.

Redwood City (N. Calif.) dispatchers have a gunshot detection and locating system to aid them in handling firearms incidents. A KPIX-TV video report explains how the system by ShotSpotter Inc. works and that two officers are dispatched to investigate gunfire incidents. The system has dramatically reduced New Year’s gunfire incidents, city officials say.

Knoxville (Tenn.) fire investigators were tired of listening to phony 911 calls that a man was making–15 calls over two months that reported house fires, vehicle crashes and medical emergencies. All the call originated from a cellular phone (presumably unregistered), an investigator called the phone, spoke to a man and told him he had won a gift card from a local retailer. The man couldn’t wait for the card to be mailed to his home, and set up a meeting to pick up the card in person. Police were waiting for Jason Harms, 29, and arrested him. He’s been charged with 15 counts of making a false report of an emergency. Court papers said Harms claimed he was doing taxpayers a favor by rousing lazy firefighters out of their fire stations.

The new year will bring a new E911 phone system to the state of Vermont, one using Internet protocol (IP) technology with lots of potential new features. It’s the first such statewide system in the country, according to Jim Lipinski, the state’s 911 information technology manager. He said the new system will improve how 911 calls can be moved around the state and handled by PSAPs. Read more about the new system here.

Jefferson County (Mo.) dispatcher Tanya Moder is the mother of a 16 year-old daughter who has suffered from a series of congenital spine ailments that puts her in severe pain. Now a possible surgical solution has been offered by a California doctor, and Tanya is working to raise the needed $50,000 cost of the surgery that’s not covered by health insurance. So far she’s raised $10,000, but is organizing events to raise the remainder. If you’re interested in more information or helping Tanya and her daughter Brandy, surf to their Web site.

Federal homeland security grant money is being spent on a regional basis thse days, putting different counties and agencies in competition for the money. In Missouri a regional committee recommended buying to communications SUVs at $300,000 each, a purchase that split the committee’s votes. Read how Missouri created regions and what their priorities have become here.

The issue of public safety communications interoperability has become the subject of academic debates since the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, adding further insights into why it hasn’t been achieved and how we might proceed. Now Gerald R. Faulhaber, Professor of Business and Public Policy at the Wharton School (Univ. of Pennsylvania) has posted a paper for an interop symposium that looks at the “why” and “who” of interoperability, and what local and state agencies are doing about it. Download (pdf) the paper here. Faulhaber refers to another white paper in his article, which you can download (pdf) here.

Charleston County (NC) dispatcher Diane Lamb was answering phones when the 911 line rang–it was her son calling from the adjacent county reporting that her other son had been shot. Diane stayed on the phone for 12 minutes as EMS units were dispatched to the scene. “Jusus is going to take care of your,” Diane told her wounded son Bruce at one point. View the WCSC video report here.