Randall County S.O. is hiring !

Thanksgiving Fire Safety Tips

Crazy !

Smithfield, North Carolina Police May Ignore '911' Calls If Not Provided More Gas Money

First Posted: 11/1/11 12:32 PM ET Updated: 11/1/11 10:04 PM ET

In one North Carolina town, some residents may not get an answer to their 911 calls because the police are running out of gas money.

In a town council meeting Tuesday night, Smithfield, North Carolina Police Chief Michael Scott will ask officials to let him use $30,000 meant for office supplies to buy gas for patrol cars, the Raleigh News and Observer reports. If he doesn't get the money, Smith said the police force may stop responding to some 911 calls and investigating misdemeanors because he's already cut patrols.

Smithfield isn't the only town looking for ways to cut costs to contend with budget woes. High unemployment and a struggling housing market have pushed more than half of U.S. cities to cut staff, boost fees or cancel infrastructure projects, according to the National League of Cities. The situation has gotten so dire that deep state and local budget cuts may be slowing U.S. economic growth, according to The Associated Press.

City officials in Allen Park, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, announced Tuesday that they would lay off more than 30 police officers, firefighters and city workers, the Detroit Free Press reports. In Santa Ana, California a budget analysis found that the city may need to take steps including closing some fire stations at night to close a projected $30 million budget gap, according to Voice of OC.

Some localities are looking for other creative ways to trim budgets. Nearly 300 school districts are moving to a four-day week, the Washington Post reports. In Grand Rapids, Flint and Lansing, Michigan city officials will use a $550,000 award from the state's governor to buy a machine to process income tax returns, which will cut down on the cities' manpower needs, according to the Grand Rapids NBC affiliate.

One county is taking what some might argue is a more extreme approach to deficit reduction. Officials in Camden County, Georgia floated hiring prison inmates as firefighters last month to curb costs.

In Smithfield, town council members say there's no way the police will be forced to stop performing necessary services, even in tight economic times.

"I think we need to uncover every rock and every stone to see other areas where we could save some money," Councilman Perry Harris told the News and Observer. 

Hemphill County Sheriff's Office is Hiring

The Hemphill County Sheriff's Office (Canadian,TX) is hiring a full time dispatcher for the 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. shift.

Full Benefits.

Starting salary is $36,875.

Applications may be picked up at the Sheriff's office or call 806-323-5324 for additional information

Newsletter

We are busy working on the Newsletter ! Please let us know if there is anything you would like included. If you would like to give any of your dispatchers "kudos" for a job well done please submit those as well.   


mdavis@theprpc.org 

Making Coordinate Search Work On PowerMap

As many of you have figured out, the search feature on PowerMap that utilizes Lat/Long hasn't been working.   John has done some troubleshooting and  has found a solution to the problem! 

To make the Coordinate search work do the following:

1. Select Decimal (this is the easiest way to search)

Lat : (small number)  35.851053

Long: (large number)  -100.851592

2. Select the Geograhic option

3. In the drop down menu scroll down and select GCS_WGS_1984

If the information has been entered correctly, the numbers will turn bold. 

TX NENA Conference 2011

Members of the Panhandle Regional 9-1-1 Network attended the Texas NENA Conference/Awards August 21st – 24th in Corpus Christi, TX.  The TX NENA Conference and Awards is a special event that features continuing education classes, guest speakers, Vendors, and recognizes telecommunicators for outstanding contributions of service.

Mike Peters, Pam Frisk, and Melanie Davis (Panhandle 9-1-1 Network) spent the week learning, volunteering, making new friends, catching up with old friends, and having a little fun in Corpus Christi.

Texas NENA is the Texas chapter of the National Emergency Number Association. NENA works to foster the development, availability and implementation of the universal emergency telephone number, 9-1-1, common to all areas of the State of Texas, through research, planning, training, education, legislation and sharing of information; represent its members before communications regulatory agencies and policy-making bodies as appropriate; and strives toward citizens having immediate access to emergency public safety services so that safety of human life, protection of property and civic welfare are benefited to the utmost degree. NENA also Aids and assist in the timely collection and dissemination of information relating to the 9-1-1 emergency number.

Crime Stoppers Car Show is Coming !!

FBI Launches New Missing Child App

First Posted: 8/6/11 09:54 AM ET Updated: 8/8/11 04:19 PM ET

The FBI has launched a new mobile application to help put the safety of children in the hands of their parents or guardians.

"You're shopping at the mall with your children when one of them suddenly disappears. A quick search of the nearby area is unsuccessful. What do you do?" reads a new FBI promotional ad for the application.

The new tool -- the first app ever created by the FBI -- provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about the user's children. According to the FBI, the intent is for the user to have the information immediately available in the event of an emergency.

Read the Article Here