April is National 9-1-1 Education Month

April is "National 9-1-1 Education" month, and April 14-20th is "National Telecommunicators Week".  The KSAPCO website at www.ksapco.org hosts links to the APCO Internation NPSTW site as well as the "9-1-1 Number to Know" site, both of which offer educational materials and ideas on how to educate our citizens and celebrate our dispatchers.

Let us know what your agency has planned to mark these events.

KCJIS Committee minutes

Minutes from the February and March KCJIS Committee Meeting have been posted on the KSAPCO website at www.ksapco.org.

Conference parking

Parking is free for anybody involved in our conference.  Parking is available across the street, east of the hotel, on Waco.  There is a covered walkway that will take you from the 2^nd floor of the parking garage to the 2^nd floor of the hotel and you can take the elevator down from there to access the lobby and meeting rooms.  You will have to take a ticket when you go into the parking garage but when leaving you’ll call the front desk from the speaker at the gate and tell them you are with APCO and they’ll raise the gate for you.

Shoulder pads?

Shoulder pads, miniskirts, leg warmers, huge earrings, fingerless gloves, parachute pants, Members Only jackets, stretch stirrup pants, and oversized tops hanging off the shoulder.  What do they have in common?  They are 80’s fabulousness!  Don’t miss out on the opportunity to strut your stuff in your best 80’s outfit at the 80’s Dance Party sponsored by Voice Products this Sunday, April 7^th, to kick off our Spring APCO Conference.  80’s dance music, DJ Cain, Voice Products, great food and drink – it just doesn’t get better than that! 

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"