THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING
Gov CIO Outlook Weekly Brief
Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from Gov CIO Outlook
DeWayne Rose serves as the Director of Emergency Management for the City of West Memphis, Arkansas. He is the Chair of the Arkansas Municipal League’s Public Safety Advisory Council and is a member of the National League of Cities Public Safety and Crime Prevention Federal Advocacy Committee.
When Public Safety Needs Public Safety
When you need help, you’re most likely going to call the Police, Fire Department or an Ambulance. These emergency services are always ready to respond to whatever situation you are in. Do you ever think about who emergency services call when they need help? The short answer is each other.
Today, in the United States of America, Public Safety agencies are being asked to do more than ever before. In most departments, they operate with fewer personnel than ever before. How do you answer more calls and provide more services with fewer people? You get creative! Over the last 36 months, the City of West Memphis, Arkansas has prioritized building relationships with multijurisdictional partners. West Memphis, Arkansas is unique in the fact that it borders Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. West Memphis is in FEMA Region 6 and Memphis is in FEMA Region 4. Different states and different FEMA regions make normal mutual aid agreements difficult, but we did not let that stop us. We have built robust interoperable communications plans that allow talk groups to be patched between AR and TN Public Safety Personnel. These simple connections allow AR 1st Responders and TN 1st Responders to communicate, in real time, making quick work of an incident.
Building Readiness through Cross-Agency Collaboration
Public Safety Executive Leadership personnel across Crittenden County, Arkansas meet at least quarterly to discuss past incidents, collaborate on upcoming events and to stay familiar with each other and our different operating policies. Our Law Enforcement Partners have formed “METRO” style teams to allow more personnel to respond to a specialized incident. These teams train together and communicate regularly to maintain a state of readiness, all being from different agencies. Our biggest value to these meetings is the trust it builds. We will continue to be asked to do more and more and the best way to be prepared for these responses is with Cross Agency Collaboration.
