DELAWARE STATE POLICE RECEIVES APCO P33 TRAINING PROGRAM CERTIFICATION

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June 17, 2010, Dover, Del. - The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International announced today that Delaware State Police’s Training Program is being recognized as having achieved certified compliance in meeting or exceeding the APCO Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Telecommunicators (2006). The certification presentations will be made at the Distinguished Achievers Breakfast at the APCO International 76th Annual Conference and Exposition in Houston, Texas on August 3.

The APCO Project 33 Agency Training Program Certification is a formal mechanism for public safety agencies to certify their training programs as meeting the Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Telecommunicators. The standard specifies the minimum training requirements, in general, of personnel assigned to the public safety telecommunicator function, but recognizes the need to supplement these basic competencies with agency-specific information and existing equipment-use parameters.

Delaware State Police’s training program has been in place since 2001 and was most recently updated this year. It involves lecture and self study and requires five to seven months of on-the-job training as well as recertification and continuing dispatch education.

The Delaware State Police Communications Section set a goal in 2009 to enhance its training program in order to ensure the best possible training is provided to newly hired Telecommunicators.

"In order to meet that goal, a committee was formed, the training program was modified and we immediately sought APCO's certification of the revised program" said Bill Carrow, Communications Section Chief.

"There is currently a push nationally to ensure 9-1-1 call-takers and Telecommunicators are trained to a minimum standard, and with APCO being an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards setting body, their Project 33 is the gold standard to attain" Carrow said.
The Delaware State Police Communications Section is the first training program in Delaware to achieve APCO's certification.

“For many years APCO International has established competent training standards, which effectively prepare trainees to better understand their role and responsibilities within both public safety and related public service occupations,” APCO International Executive Director George S. Rice, Jr. said. “We congratulate Delaware State Police for recognizing the need for certification in their center and for the hard work employed to achieve the standard.”

The APCO International 76th Annual Conference and Exposition will be held August 1-4 in Houston, Texas.

For more information, visit www.apco2010.org.

To obtain a complimentary press pass, please contact Courtney M. Hastings at 571.312.4400 x7002 or mccarronc@apcointl.org.