Not too long ago, what seemed like "just an idea" has come to fruition and here we are having completed our second pilot public safety telecommunicator academy for the Bureau of Indian Affairs here at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).
The instructors here at the Regional Emergency Dispatch Authority, housed on the FLETC post in Artesia, NM were asked to take the lead on instruction for BIA and Tribal dispatchers across the nation. It sounded like such a huge prospect at first, but the meetings began and soon it started to take shape as a real possibility.
BIA and Tribal dispatchers are not obligated or required to attend their respective state academies, but still wanted good, fundamental training as public safety professionals. BIA asked us, "Is there a national standard we can use to train them?" That was one of the easiest questions posed to us during those meetings. With a resounding "Yes!", we introduced them to APCO curriculum. That introduction led to a round table discussion in April with FLETC program managers, BIA training staff, APCO's Julie Ray and Sheila Hanna-Wiles as well as REDA training staff in attendance. Agreements were made on what could and should be used in order to provide the most well-rounded education and academy experience, and away we went!
July was the first pilot, graduating 21 and the second was completed in August, graduating 19. We are utilizing APCO PST I and APCO FSC for the two-week academy, in addition to a radio practical with the StarZII simulators. Cadets receive both the APCO certifications as well as their certificate from FLETC/BIA.
We are looking forward to the continuation of these academies and meeting folks from all over the nation in 2014. We will be conducting one per quarter and anticipate the return of many of our graduating students as instructors. What a wonderful opportunity this has been for REDA!