Daytona Beach, Fla. –  On Wednesday, March 23rd, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe signed a bill into law that makes minimum training available for public safety telecommunicators across the state. The bill, HB 1741(now Act 640) which was filed on February 28, passed through the state House and Senate with no opposition.

The new law does not make training mandatory, but will make it available across the state. Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy (ALETA) has agreed to provide the training with current fees that are collected from wireless phone bills.

The curriculum will be modeled from the Project 33 national standard set forth by APCO International and will be a train-the-trainer type program. Agencies may send dispatchers for training and they could return to their agencies and provide the training to their agencies and/or regionally throughout the state.

Gary Gray, deputy coordinator and operations manager for the City of North Little Rock’s Emergency Services; Shannon McCuin, RPL, dispatch manager for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office; and Tammie Shipp, 9-1-1 administrator for Conway County 9-1-1 were instrumental in bringing the bill forward and getting it passed. The Association of Arkansas Counties, the Municipal League, Fire Chief’s Association and the Sheriff’s Association supported the legislation.

“APCO International is proud of the accomplishments of the Arkansas Chapter of APCO regarding the passage and signing of the bill requiring minimum training standards for public safety call taker and dispatch personnel,” said Bill Carrow, president of Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International.

Now that the bill has become law, the ad hoc committee of stakeholders formed back in January will determine the details of the curriculum. Then APCO International will review it to ensure compliance with Project 33 standards. From there it will go to the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training, which will credential the final training, to approve and certify the curriculum. ALETA will hire course instructors and provide regional training sites across Arkansas.

“There is an expectation that the men and women that answer the emergency phone lines and dispatch police, fire and medical assistance at least have a basic training certification.  This is a big step forward for the Arkansas and for APCO, as the minimum training requirement was modeled after the APCO Project 33 training standard, which is the only ANSI standard in the country dealing with such training,” added Carrow.

About APCO International
APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide — and the welfare of the general public as a whole—by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.  www.apcointl.org