First Responders

The bipartisan bill would establish a dedicated mental health hotline for police, fire and EMS workers to provide support, information, intervention and substance use resources.

The deal comes as emergency communications and dispatch technology offers more real-time data and mapping tools, among other advances. RapidDeploy launched in 2013 and has raised more than $80 million in funding.

A study finds that compensation for police, fire and emergency medical services workers, among other positions, in Virginia Beach, Va., is 5 to 10 percent lower than comparable jurisdictions.

The CZU inferno destroyed about 700 homes in Santa Cruz County. Of those, 127 residences have been rebuilt and another 134 are under construction, according to the county.

Watch Duty’s success raises questions about why citizen-led tech is outpacing government emergency response efforts. The company’s co-founder explores the lessons agencies can learn from this citizen-driven model.

Geospatial data serves as the foundational building block for crucial mapping and communications tools used by state and local government agencies in responding to fast-moving disasters like wildfires.

Matthew McLamb will step in as geographic information officer for the state. Formerly assistant director of the North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, he will now also serve as its executive director.

Gov. Brian Kemp has issued a state of emergency ahead of severe winter weather expected to arrive overnight into Friday in metropolitan Atlanta. Agencies are mindful of 2014’s epic snowfall.

The city police department will install the automatic readers starting this summer. They will be active when patrol vehicles are in use and plate numbers will be stored in a system that aggregates registered driver names.

Drone technology is rapidly transforming government operations, but agencies face a complex web of challenges from navigating new regulations and security threats to harnessing AI and counter-drone technology.

With the National Weather Service predicting two to four inches of snow or sleet for the Atlanta area Friday, state and local agencies are preparing, having been educated by the infamous January 2014 storm.

The state recently launched BEACON, driven by artificial intelligence and capable of transforming written emergency updates into real-time, multilingual audio message broadcasts on multiple platforms.

An update to the 30-year-old Northwest Forest Plan for management could allow more logging to fight extreme wildfires and climate change. A draft environmental impact statement identifies several strategies for the U.S. Forest Service.

The city has hired a well-known local architecture firm to oversee engineering and design on a new police headquarters that would enable all officers to work from one facility. The move comes as the Dec. 31 deadline for cities to allocate federal American Rescue Plan funds looms.

Purchased over the summer, the three devices arrived recently, and three department officials are training to fly them. The unmanned aerial vehicles will likely be used at fires, during floods and to inspect hazardous buildings. They could gather intelligence during large fires.

The state was approved for a Fire Management Assistance grant through FEMA, in which 75 percent of the cost will be picked up by federal dollars and the remaining quarter through state and local resources.

Assembled in Wyoming, Minn., the new rig is the city’s inaugural electric fire truck. It features an adjustable height, enabling it to maneuver rain and snowstorms that might sideline lower-riding trucks, and wheels capable of turning so as to round tight corners.

As real-time crime centers gain popularity, police are turning to the latest tools to catch criminal suspects more quickly than before. Glendale, Ariz., offers a glimpse of what’s to come for more departments.