Articles
Fire Trucks Don’t Prevent Fires: A Critical Lesson in Active Shooter Prevention and Response
On the surface, the worlds of fire safety and active shooter incidents wouldn’t appear to have a whole lot in common. But, as is often the case in cross-disciplinary risk management, diving below the surface provides more relevant lessons and useful information than...
Interoperability V2.0
For decades now, it has been nearly impossible to dig into a public safety or emergency management article, lecture, or class without being told that the answer to our communication woes is interoperability. Ever since the 9/11 Commission released its report in 2004,...
Fly the Plane– Covid-Era School Safety Lessons from an Unlikely Source
In the runup to what is already shaping up to be a very different 2020-2021 school year, there’s a lot of focus at all levels on what the school day will look like in the era of social-distancing, masks, perpetual disinfecting, and Covid-19. I hear a lot of...
Fire Service Accreditation – Why it’s Important Now
“Because elected officials can’t see our results, they focus on what they can see – our expenditures,” so says Ken Miller, author of We Don’t Make Widgets – Overcoming the Myths that Keep Government from Radically Improving. While not speaking directly about the fire...
Intercepting Entropy
In his brief but powerful book, Leadership is an Art, author Max DePree warns of the dangers of entropy. The term, born from the study of thermodynamics, reflects a natural tendency for all things to deteriorate. Mr. DePree employed the term to illustrate that...
Policy and Practice Considerations for Complying with IT Accreditation Standards
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, otherwise known as CALEA, for example, promulgates standards considered to be industry best practices for law enforcement and public safety agencies. What also makes these standards incredibly helpful to...
Accreditation Compliance Policy Writing – How to Get Started
So, you were just assigned as your department’s accreditation manager or policy writer, and you’re wondering to yourself where do I begin. That is a great question, and it is often asked during the new accreditation manager training. Understanding that there are many...
Four Simple Steps to Evaluate Critical Incident Response Tools
Imagine you arrive at your regional cardiac hospital for that emergency double bypass surgery when the surgeon greets you with exciting news: “We’ve got an amazing new medical instrument and procedure we’ll be using for your surgery. It’s never been used on an actual...
NJSACOP Awards Accreditation or Re-Accreditation Status to 15 Agencies
South Brunswick, NJ - On Thursday, October 10th, 2019 the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police Accreditation Commission held a hearing to determine the accreditation status of 15 New Jersey Law Enforcement agencies. During the hearing, the commission met...
NJSACOP Awards Accreditation or Re-Accreditation Status to 31 Agencies
South Brunswick, NJ - On Thursday, June 19th, 2019 the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police Accreditation Commission held a hearing to determine the accreditation status of 31 New Jersey Law Enforcement agencies. During the hearing, the commission met and...