The year 2020 was fraught with challenges, most notably those generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Public safety and justice agencies from coast to coast were forced to implement, virtually overnight, new operational strategies that became necessary because employees were unable to work in their brick-and-mortar facilities, either due to illness or various shelter-in-place orders. In some cases, agencies had to rapidly execute protective measures for those employees who could arrive at work, driven by social-distancing mandates.

A previous post examined some of the key technology factors that should be considered as the public safety community mulls how to evolve its communications capabilities going forward. This post explores operations, governance and funding considerations.

Sometimes you don’t have a choice—an event occurs that is so cataclysmic that you are forced to do things you had no idea you were capable of doing, and certainly no desire to do them. Here’s a for instance. On December 6, 1941, the United States continued on its slow but steady recovery from the Great Depression, content in the cocoon of its isolationism. Things were getting better, fueled in part by the New Deal. And then Japan bombed Pearl Harbor the next day. In an instant, the U.S., its citizens, and their way of life were turned upside down—and a lot of things changed very quickly as a result.

Public safety answering points (PSAPs) and emergency operations centers (EOCs) must provide security and peace of mind for communities and first responders. Unfortunately, many agencies are faced with aging facilities and technologies that no longer meet their needs or the needs of those they serve.

It’s a crazy world right now, arguably crazier than it’s ever been. Hatred seems to be flowing in the United States like a river, and unrest no longer is something that happens on the poor side of town—look out your window and you might see it happening right across the street. People-induced tragedies seem to happen every week, if not every day, and many are on a mass scale. When they do happen, it no longer seems like news because we have become inured to them—in fact, if the morning newspaper doesn’t report on such an event, it has a “man bites dog” feel to it.