DISPATCHING DURING SOCIAL UNREST

Over the years there has been varying degrees of social unrest, some even targeting police stations, and other public safety facilities, including Communications Centers. If you have never prepared for an assault on your center, you should add it to your Emergency Operations Plan. Considering the overall safety of your center is critical to providing continued communications throughout difficult or challenging times. The safety of your crew is essential to maintaining operational integrity and peace of mind. Those at work and/or those coming or leaving work could be unintentionally placing themselves in a substantially precarious situation. Although structural and security of your building and operational equipment, including backup systems remains critical, much more important is the overall safety of your employees. Your employees must have faith in the security of your office because the fear and anxiety experienced by 911 personnel who may be facing social unrest can and will have an impact on their performance and operational functionality. Planning for these types of emergencies, should be included in a well-rounded emergency operation plan which covers all the facets for providing safety and security to your employees. It is about time we all prepared for these difficult events that can impact the feeling of safety for your employees.