Kansas 911 Coordinating Council Minutes

The March Minutes of the Kansas 911Coordinating Council can be accessed by visiting http://www.ksapco.org/911_Coordinating_Council.html, or directly at the KAC website at http://www.kansascounties.org/index.aspx?NID=250.

KSAPCO Spring Conference: A Conference Full of Solutions

  By Elora Randleas, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications - While we may not be able to solve ALL of your problems, there are a lot of great courses available at the Kansas Chapter Spring Conference April 7-9 that will offer you solutions!

Do you feel like you're stagnant, waiting on something to change in your life? Operation GROW is the course for you! We will be discussing ways to establish personal goals, empower your team and create strategies for growth, and improve your work-life balance.

Are you tasked with employee investigations and you aren't sure that you're doing them correctly? Employee Investigations if the course for you! This course will discuss Garrity and how that case law applies to whether or not your employees have an obligation to be truthful. It will also cover how to conduct an investigation, notifying witnesses, conducting interviews, and writing reports.

Does your agency have morale issues (and honestly, which agency doesn't struggle with this at some point)? Morale is the course for you! This course is going to discuss toxic emotions, how to identify them and what to do with them, as well as FREE or low cost ways to reward co-workers and show them appreciation.

Do you lie awake at night worrying about NextGen 9-1-1? We've got several courses addressing that issue including "Why a Hosted NG9-1-1 Solution Might Be Right for Your PSAP", "Taking the Worry Out of Your Migration to Next Gen 9-1-1", and "NG9-1-1 GIS Data: What to Plan For!" among others.

And don't forget the awesome opportunity to attend the FREE Project Management workshop being offered on April 10th in conjunction with the conference. Whether you have a project already planned or underway (NG9-1-1, Digital System, Rebanding, etc) or just want to be prepared to take the lead on a future project, this course is for you! Space is limited to please email Elora Randleas (erandlea@sedgwick.gov) for further.

Check out the Kansas APCO Chapter website for more information on the conference or to get registered! www.ksapco.org

FBI investigates PSAP phone attacks, extortion

FBI Investigates PSAP Phone Attacks, Extortion Posted: 13 Mar 2013 02:31 PM PDT At least two 911 centers in the United States have been victimized by a team of telephone extortionists who have demanded repayment of an employee’s alleged loan, and who then blocked the agency’s telephone number with a flood of incoming calls when the agency refused. In one case the attack spanned three days and caused some calls to roll over to a back-up agency’s comm center. The latest attack happened today at an undisclosed communications center, potentially blocking critical citizen communications. The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) issued a warning about the scheme, which has been used for many years, and is dubbed the “payday loan attack.” The caller claims to be from a loan collections company, and attempts to make the business/PSAP responsible for paying back an employee’s loan. When the company or PSAP refuses, the suspects begin a telephone dialing attack. Until now, such extortionists haven’t called public safety comm centers, but over the past month have included comm centers on their call list. APCO did not provide details on what types of telephone numbers are being called by the suspects. The group’s warning noted that many other agencies may have been targeted by the criminals, but did not reported the attacks. APCO is asking agencies that have experienced loan demands, blocked telephone lines or other suspicious situations to contact the association with details: Jay English, Director of Communications Center and 9-1-1 Services, englishj@apcointl.org. Read the group’s recommendations in handling such extortion demands after the break. APCO International recommended the following: Targeted organizations should not pay the blackmail. Contact your telephone service provider; they may be able to assist by blocking portions of the attack A call back number to the “collections” company or requesting organization should be requested and logged. Any information you can obtain about the caller, or his/her organization will be of tremendous assistance in this investigation and in preventing further attacks. Record and report the payment method and account numbers where the “collections” company requests the debt to be paid. Reporting any information you may have regarding previous or future attacks to APCO will ensure wider dissemination and pooling of resources. What we know: § The attacks resulted in enough volume to cause a roll over to the alternate facility. § The attacks last for intermittent time periods over several hours. They may stop for several hours, then resume. At least one attack spanned a period of three days. § The attacks followed a person with a heavy accent demanding payment of $5,000 from the company because of default by an employee who either no longer works at the PSAP or never did. What we need from our members: § Additional insight into the scope and impact of the event- specifically how many communications centers have been attacked is critical to identifying the true scope of this occurrence. § In order to ensure situational awareness with our members and member agencies, it is critical that this information be disseminated to emergency communications centers, PSAP’s, government IT departments, and any related government agency with a vested interest in emergency communications continuity of operations.   - Source: "Dispatch Monthly Magazine"

Minutes posted

The minutes of the January KCJIS Committee Meeting, as well as the February minutes of the Southwest Kansas Regional Emergency Planning Committee have been posted at www.ksapco.org.

Conference schedule posted

The schedule for the Kansas APCO Spring Conference has been posted at www.ksapco.org.  Hope to see you there!

Spring Conference to offer "Active Shooter" training

As you're following the horrific events that are happening across the nation with active shooters are you wishing that you had some way to help prepare your dispatchers to deal with those situations?  We all know there is no real way to prepare but you want your staff to be armed with as much knowledge as possible going into these high stress situations.

 We are very proud to present the following general session class at the Kansas APCO Chapter Spring Conference being hosted in Wichita on April 7th-9th. 

Response to Armed Engagement – This class is designed to increase a Law Enforcement Officer’s change of survival in all types of “armed encounters.”  This class will briefly discuss recent Active Shooter events that have occurred in the United States, to include local events that have happened in Wichita.  It will also discuss the parallel development of both Law Enforcement and society for the past two decades and a look at the ALERT program that is currently being conducted for the Wichita Police Department.  This class will give the dispatcher an insight into what occurs in the mind of an officer during a critical incident and an explanation of the tactics the officer uses to bring the incident to a successful resolution.

KSAPCO announcing workshops

KSAPCO has started announcing some of the workshops and activities which will be held at the Spring Conference in Wichita.

Managing “Psycho-Hazmat” on the 911 Front Lines:  Protecting your Health, Your Career, and Your Family – Officers on duty wear bullet proof vests, Fire Fighters wear durable heat and fire resistant “Turnout suits”, and hazardous material workers wear, well--big funny- looking outfits that protect them from diseases and death! But what do 911 dispatchers wear to protect themselves from their exposure to Psychological Hazmat—the toxic effects of exposure to death, violence, and tragedy at the console?  Jim Marshall will launch our conference with an entertaining and eye-opening look at the psychological risks posed by your work as 911 frontliners--and what you can do to protect yourself. You’ll hear the incredible story of Oregon’s “Jan and Mike: the Kevlar Couple” then join your peers for a Think Tank exercise to explore how you can support your 911 family in the face of traumatic stress.  

After our morning break Jim will continue with part 2 of his presentation: Taming the Vicious 911 Stress Cycle-- “We Bring it Home & Take it back to Work”. In this highly interactive session, we’ll explore how we carry our 911 stress home where it can change our relationships and  impact the quality of our personal lives—our marriages and our families. Jim has listened to countless dispatchers describe their frustration with cycle—and helped many overcome it. He will lead us in a dynamic conversation equipping us to protect our mental health, and to enjoy our partners, our children and our lives outside the 911 center.