Category Archives: News

By James Lockerbie and Timothy Cunningham

On February 16^th 1968 in Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9‑1‑1 call was made. In the 55 years that succeeded that call, while much has changed about the world, little has changed in the world of 9‑1‑1. NENA National being the advocate for 9‑1‑1 in the United States and other three-digit emergency numbers around the world has been hosting the 9‑1‑1 Goes to Washington event for the past 17 plus years. The goal of this event is to bring together 9‑1‑1 professionals from across the nation to speak with our government leaders and address today’s most pressing 9‑1‑1 emergency communications issues. This year, as the only representatives from New Jersey, my associate Timothy Cunningham and I, James Lockerbie, traveled to our nation’s capitol and met with members of the 118^th congress.

What does this event look like, and what happened while we were there? We arrived Sunday evening and gathered for the welcome reception. There we were excited to meet with 9‑1‑1 professionals from 40 of the 50 United States and the territory of Guam. Monday morning we arrived at the convention center early and participated in panel discussions with topic experts and industry representatives who helped prepare us for the meetings to come on the hill. The discussion covered the need for Next Generation 9‑1‑1 funding, which has been estimated at 15 billion dollars, and the reclassification of 9‑1‑1 professionals on a federal level. The two most important legislative concerns are referred to as the “NG 9‑1‑1 Act” and the “9‑1‑1 Saves Act”. Later Monday evening during the NG 911 Institute’s Honors Awards Dinner, I was pleased to introduce Tim to the co-author of the 9‑1‑1 Saves Act, California Congresswoman Norma J Torres. Congresswoman Torres, a former LAPD 9‑1‑1 Communications Officer, spoke with us prior to giving her keynote speech at the event. On Tuesday a good friend of mine, Alicia Burns, helped coordinate with staffers from Rep. Torres office a group photo on the east steps of the US Capitol Building. The National board members were pleased with this opportunity to obtain such a wonderful photo op. Later that afternoon Timothy Cunningham and I met with a staffer from the office of Dr. Jefferson Van Drew, our local congressional district representative. Wednesday was a day filled with meetings on the hill as we met with the offices of three house representatives and Senator Cory Booker. This included a meeting with freshman representative Robert Menendez, son of Senator Bob Menendez.

While most of the conference was planned out, part of being in DC is never knowing who you may have the opportunity to meet. An example of this would be my experience while I was checking out of my hotel room, I bumped into Sara Weston, the founder of the 9‑1‑1 Wonder Woman Inc. A non-profit organization tasked with elevating women in the 9‑1‑1 industry. We had the pleasure of attending an event inspired by her organization Tuesday night, NENA’s Women in 9‑1‑1 Alliance Reception. The highlight of the reception was the awarding of the Wendy Day Memorial Scholarship, which provides the opportunity for a female Telecommunicator to attend the 9‑1‑1 GTW Conference. We encourage the women of the NJ NENA chapter to inquire into and apply for this scholarship, as well as become part of these two amazing organizations. As Sara and I parted ways she provided me with one of her “911der Women” logo lapel pins. I was able to pass this pin along to Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman’s office of the 12^th congressional district of NJ. Her staffer who accepted the pin mentioned that Rep Coleman would love to meet with local constituents who are members of that organization.

So why is it so important to share this experience with you? While we shared our concerns with each individual we met with, they in turn had a request for us to bring back to our NJ membership. Each Representative stressed the importance of hearing directly from their local constituents. You don’t have to wait until next year’s 9‑1‑1 GTW Conference to meet with these local representatives. They all have local offices where they are more than willing to set up meetings and even talked about going to visit their local 9‑1‑1 centers. We need more members to become involved and engaged with advocating for our profession. There is power in numbers. An example of this is the 17 members from Tennessee that attended, arranged a breakfast with their congressional delegation. Our hope is that we would see this kind of support from our NJ members so that we too can organize events like this to help bring awareness to our state delegates. It is important to come together as a group so that we can institute the change we need for our profession to be more successful.

Several NENA chapters have chosen to replicate this type of event at the state level, organizing trips to their State Capitols. The Chapters are following a similar format, preparing members with talking points and bringing them up-to-date on the issues of their individual states. They are then sent out to meet with State Representatives and State Senators, in an effort to improve our industry within their states. Tim and I would like to see a “NJ NENA Goes to Trenton” event where we can advocate on behalf of 9‑1‑1 professionals all over NJ, in order to improve the quality of our 9‑1‑1 system and create relationships with the men and women of the state assembly. While the last 55 years has been spent developing 9‑1‑1 we now need to focus our efforts on obtaining proper classification, funding, training, and technology to meet the ever-growing needs of our community. 9‑1‑1 professionals and the people that they serve deserve nothing less.

Co-Authors

James Lockerbie
Egg Harbor Township Police Department
MCO

Timothy Cunningham
Stafford Township Police Department 
Lead Public Safety Telecommunicator

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 911.gov sent this bulletin at 09/07/2018 08:55 AM CDT

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) on September 20, 2018 (primary date) or October 3, 2018 (secondary date). The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether technological improvements are needed.

This is the fourth EAS nationwide test and the first national WEA test. The WEA test message will be sent to cell phones. Previous EAS national tests were conducted in September 2011, 2016 and 2017 in collaboration with the FCC, broadcasters, and emergency management officials in recognition of FEMA’s National Preparedness Month.

The EAS test is made available to EAS participants (i.e. radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers) and is scheduled to last approximately one minute. The test message will be similar to regular monthly EAS test messages with which the public is familiar. The EAS message will include a reference to the WEA test: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Emergency Alert System. This system was developed by broadcast and cable operators in voluntary cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency, an official message would have followed the tone alert at the start of this message. A similar wireless emergency alert test message has been sent to all cell phones nationwide. Some cell phones will receive the message, others will not. No action is required.”

The WEA test message will be a Presidential Alert and will read “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

The WEA system is used to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations through alerts on cell phones. It allows customers whose wireless provider participates in WEA and who own a WEA compatible wireless phone to receive geo-targeted alerts of imminent threats to safety in their area through unique tones and vibration. The national WEA test will use the same special tone and vibration.

The WEA test will be sent through IPAWS, as part of the nation’s modern alert and warning infrastructure that automatically authenticates alerts. Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, cell phones that are switched on and within range of an active cell tower should be capable of receiving the test message. Cell phones should receive the message once.

Significant coordination has been conducted with EAS participants, wireless providers, and emergency managers in preparation for this EAS-WEA national test. This test is intended to ensure public safety officials have the methods and systems that will deliver urgent alerts and warnings to the public in times of emergency or disaster. Periodic testing of public alert and warning systems is also a way to assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure required for the distribution of a national message and determine whether technological improvements are needed.

Receiving preparedness tips and timely information about weather conditions or other emergency events can make all the difference in knowing when to take action to be safe. FEMA and our partners are working to ensure alerts and warnings are received quickly through several different technologies, no matter whether an individual is at home, at school, at work, or out in the community. The FEMA app, which can be downloaded on both Android and Apple devices, is one way to ensure you receive both preparedness tips and weather alerts of your choice. Download the FEMA app today at https://www.fema.gov/mobile-app.

More information on the national test is available at https://www.fema.gov/Emergency-Alert-Test

Questions on the national test can be sent to FEMA-National-Test@fema.dhs.gov

The Federal Communications Commission recently released a report on state collection and distribution of 9-1-1 fees.  The State of New Jersey collects a “9-1-1 System and Emergency Response Fee”.  In the FCC report, on page 61, a chart explains that the State of New Jersey collects $122,632,000.00 of which $110,278,000.00 is diverted. That is 89.9 percent of 9-1-1 funds collected.

An excerpt from the report:

“New Jersey reported that it did not divert or transfer any collected funds. However, it reported that it collected a total of $122.6 million in 911 fees and, in accordance with New Jersey statute (P.L.2004, c.48), the total was “deposited into the 911 System and Emergency Response Trust Fund account and applied to offset a portion of the cost of related programs.” According to New Jersey, with respect to 911 specific costs, approximately $13,122,000.00 was applied to “the Statewide 911 Emergency Telephone System” and $900,000 was applied to “the Office of Emergency Telecommunications Service.” New Jersey applied the remainder of $110,278,000.00 to offset costs related to programs within the New Jersey Departments of Law and Public Safety and Military and Veterans’ Affairs.”

Click Here to view the Full Report