By Laura French
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International has announced the 2021 kickoff of its annual contest for National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.
The theme of this year’s contest is “Who is YOUR public safety superhero?” and submissions will be excepted until 9 a.m. ET on April 19, according to an APCO press release. Public safety telecommunications are encouraged to send their stories about the outstanding efforts of their colleagues and what makes their teams successful, and two winners, one large agency and one small agency, will be awarded prizes.
This year’s National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week will be celebrated April 11-17. The event, first conceived in 1981 by Patrician Anderson of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in California, and formally recognized by the U.S. government in 1991 after lobbying by APCO, was created to raise public awareness about the work and dedication of public safety telecommunicators.
Last year’s Telecommunicators Week contest was suspended so APCO could shift its efforts to providing COVID-19-related resources to its members. Based on submissions received before the contest was suspended in March, APCO announced the 2020 winners to be Lincoln County E9-1-1 in North Carolina and the Montgomery County 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Center in Maryland.
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