(WASHINGTON, DC) – The Office of Unified Communications (OUC) was showcased throughout the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International’s annual conference and expo held July 27-30, 2025, in Baltimore, MD.
OUC Director Heather McGaffin accepted on behalf of the agency APCO’s Technology Leadership Award which recognizes emergency communications centers for their use of technological advancements and the benefit demonstrated to their employees and the citizens they serve.
“We're honored to be recognized by APCO as a technology leader in the industry,” said OUC Director Heather McGaffin. “We strive to provide our call takers and dispatchers with the best tools available to ensure that we support District first responders and serve our residents and visitors to the best of our ability – this recognition affirms that we are doing just that.”
The week included additional recognitions and a demonstration of real-time 911 call taking from the field via the District’s mobile command center. Throughout the week, the District’s mobile 911 command center, Tactical Homeland Operations Response (T.H.O.R.) was on display. Acquired in 2017, the two-story, 80-foot-long vehicle serves as the agency’s third of three operations sites. T.H.O.R. is outfitted to support 17 dispatch and/or call-taking positions and can be used as a full-service communications center during Continuity of Operations (COOP) scenarios.
While in Baltimore, OUC team members staffed T.H.O.R. and answered nearly 100 911 calls and nearly 200 311 calls from Washington, D.C, demonstrating the vehicle’s ability to fully replicate 911 and 311 operations. This real-time demonstration illustrated OUC’s ability to maintain uninterrupted emergency communications and operational continuity.
“It was important to showcase one of our most invaluable technological assets, T.H.O.R., with public safety communications centers across the globe,” said McGaffin. “We rely on T.H.O.R. during large scale incidents and events and as a tertiary back-up center. Our continuity model is one that is often asked about and so what better place to demonstrate what is possible live to conference attendees.”
APCO also presented Director McGaffin with her Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE) designation. The CPE designation is the only executive leadership program focused specially on the public safety communications professional and consists of an intensive six-month program and a two-week capstone seminar.
Additionally, OUC was recognized for achieving its first Agency Training Program Accreditation, a Project 33® Initiative, through APCO. Public safety agencies use the APCO International Agency Training Program Accreditation as a formal mechanism to ensure their training programs meet APCO American National Standards. Initial and continuing training for public safety telecommunicators is important as they provide essential services to the public in an expanding and rapidly changing environment.
APCO International is the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association. APCO serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy, and outreach.
For more information on APCO International, visit their website.