https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Commentaries


Image via Unsplash

Commentary

Looking ahead: What 2021 will bring to public safety

Looking ahead: What 2021 will bring to public safety

  • Written by Todd Miller
  • 30th December 2020

Most agree that 2020 was a year no one could have predicted. However, the shaping forces that took hold during the year—the pandemic, civil unrest and an increase in natural disasters, to name a few —will continue to influence the world in 2021 and beyond.

Among the industries most likely to feel the lasting effects of 2020 long after it’s gone are public safety and emergency management. The pandemic especially has forced many to rethink how these vital agencies operate, interact with each other and the public, and share information.

Here’s a few ways these changes will take hold in 2021:

 

Increasing collaboration across stakeholders

This past year, more than most, has shown that public safety, emergency management, departments of health and more all need to be able to collaborate to handle emergencies, get the right information out to residents and ensure the safety of their communities.

This collaboration has not only been important for sharing data between agencies so that stakeholders can work together to slow the spread of the virus, but will become increasingly more crucial as these entities gear up to distribute vaccines in local communities on a wide scale. To better prepare for what’s to come during the remainder of the pandemic, and to better manage day-to-day emergencies, public safety, emergency management and other stakeholders must turn to solutions that make collaborating streamlined and efficient.

Emergencies are often chaotic and confusing for everyone involved, so the ability to know the role every department or person plays in a response can save time and lead to better outcomes. To do this, agencies will turn to solutions that allow them to better coordinate incident response, share real-time data and communications amongst multiple responder teams, ensure compliance with task lists and protocols, and record all actions taken for audits and reporting. Technologies that can guide actions, support on-the-fly changes and escalate past due tasks to the appropriate personnel will become essential in ensuring safe, effective emergency response in 2021 and beyond.

 

Evolving the response to those in mental health crises

In addition to the call for more collaboration across local and state agencies, 2020 has also seen a growing number of conversations surrounding mental health and emergency response. Police mental health responses across the country have raised important questions about who responds to these types of incidents, the information they have before arriving on scene and how these situations should be handled to prevent further tragedies from taking place.

However, no matter who responds to these types of incidents—whether they’re police, mental health experts, EMTs or someone else—public safety departments must focus on collecting and sharing critical background information with anyone handling the response. This information— such as if a person suffers from autism or has a mental health condition that may impact their reaction to responders— can provide the context first responders need to best approach the person they’re assisting and understand how he or she might respond to that interaction. By using tools or safety profile systems that allow the public to opt in and share this information in case of an emergency, like the free Smart911 service, public safety officials can be ready with the information needed to help someone during the time of the crisis. When first responders have more context up front, they can provide a well-informed, appropriate response that results in the best possible outcome for everyone.

 

Better communicating across channels and geographies

The coronavirus has spread, re-spread, surged and re-surged at different times and paces across not just the country, but individual states and cities as well. No two communities have been impacted in the exact same way. Because of that, the communication provided to cities and towns must be customized based on their unique population and experience with the spread of the virus.

As 2021 approaches, and with the coronavirus being present for at least the first half of the year, public safety and emergency management need to get creative in how they effectively communicate with different audiences. Both geography and channel need to be considered when developing a strategy for reaching residents.

As mentioned, no two areas were hit the same by the coronavirus, and communications need to be targeted to residents differently depending on where they are in a city, county or state. For example, does every county in the state need to be warned about high transmission rates? The answer is possibly no – only the counties that do have the high transmission rates should be sent reminder messages warning of associated risks of not quarantining. Or, communities may choose to target the most at-risk community members like those with pre-existing conditions or over the age of 65.  As many people start to get tired of alerts, officials should strive to only send messages to relevant audiences. Otherwise they take the chance of many tuning out alerts when they are important – a risk some areas can certainly not afford to take.

If there was one lesson learned in 2020, it’s that no one can predict what’s coming around the corner. However, it is certain that public safety and emergency management need to be ready to tackle whatever challenges come next. By learning from the past, these agencies can prepare for future emergencies and focus on what matters most: protecting their communities.

 

Todd Miller is the COO of Rave Mobile Safety.

Tags: homepage-featured-1 homepage-featured-2 homepage-featured-4 Public Safety Commentaries Public Safety Commentary

Most Recent


  • landslides
    Managing landslides along road corridors using remote sensing
    Maintaining roads is an optimization problem. Local officials must balance limited and sometimes shrinking budgets with the needs of their communities to have safe and reliable transportation systems. Unfortunately, the importance of a particular maintenance issue is often judged based on anecdotal information and complaints from the public rather than hard data. This approach is […]
  • public safety
    Making cities safer with smart technology
    Public safety is a priority for communities and citizens alike, especially those living in metropolitan areas. While an issue as complex as public safety doesn’t have an easy fix, cities worldwide are thinking outside the box to create programs that build safer communities. For many, this includes embracing smart technology. Sensors, for example, are widely […]
  • Homelessness holding steady as White House announces roadmap to reduce rate by a quarter
    On a single night this past January, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development counted 582,462 people living in homelessness. The number, while high, could have been significantly high. “COVID-19 and its economic impacts could have led to significant increases in homelessness, however investments, partnerships and government agency outreach resulted in only a .3% […]
  • Facing a changing climate, Florida's Miami-Date County launches extreme heat action plan
    Facing a changing climate, Miami-Dade County in Florida is the latest county government to launch an Extreme Heat Action Plan —an initiative that’s designed to address challenges through education, improved cooling options and infrastructure upgrades. “While Miami-Dade County is known internationally for its vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding, extreme heat causes more death and has […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • How governments can keep employees safe as they return to work
  • Preventing cyber-attacks needs to be a priority for local governments
  • Building community and officer wellness through data sharing
  • California city combines advanced technology with dedicated public safety team for comprehensive emergency management

WHITE PAPERS


Modernizing government services for today’s resident expectations

24th January 2023

Preparing Your Community Now for the Next Generation of Older Adults

18th October 2022

Helping Government Fleets Achieve Their Goals

30th September 2022
view all

Webinars


How To: Evaluate Digital Government Service Delivery Technologies

23rd January 2023

Using Technology to Enhance Communications

29th November 2022

Learn the benefits of transforming and automating your Contract Management process

4th November 2022
view all

Podcast


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand

26th January 2023

10 American cities with a great downtown

24th January 2023

Miami leads the way in FT-Nikkei ranking of best U.S. cities for foreign companies

20th January 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Report: With increase popularity of e-bikes and e-scooters, there’s a need for ‘safe and connected infrastructure’ dlvr.it/ShlKmJ

31st January 2023
AmerCityCounty

New York mayor announces city-wide curbside composting program, impacting 8.5 million residents by 2024 dlvr.it/ShhRk1

30th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Federal funds help fast-growing Arizona city address several infrastructure challenges and needs dlvr.it/ShhBtf

30th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient dlvr.it/ShYNcx

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Shifting city demographics present an opportunity to build coalitions, address inequality dlvr.it/ShYMMm

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Spending American Rescue Plan Act funds: A primer for municipalities dlvr.it/ShXzvl

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand dlvr.it/ShVhBW

26th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Managing landslides along road corridors using remote sensing dlvr.it/ShTpL6

26th January 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.