2027 Content Calendar*

Our editorial philosophy is focused on helping industry professionals do their jobs more effectively, efficiently and profitably by providing a balance of business-and technical-related content.

*Editorial Calendar is tentative and subject to change.
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January/February 2027

Technology

 
  • ECOSYSTEMS: Integrating Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) with mobile and digital ecosystems for faster emergency response
  • MOBILE DRIVER’S LICENSES: How mobile driver’s license data enter computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and records management systems (RMS), and what emergency communications center (ECC) staff need to know before it arrives
  • CHECKLISTS: Checklists don’t replace public safety telecommunicators, they support them by reducing cognitive load during critical incidents
  • DRONES: How drone response changes the workflow in the ECC
  • LPRs: How license plate readers work, the pros and cons, and how telecommunicators work with them
  • AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES: Driverless cars are raising call volume, and one agency built a complaint portal to handle it
  • 5 AI QUESTIONS: The questions agencies need to ask artificial intelligence (AI) vendors
  • What is and What isn’t AI
  • TOOLS: How to manage a growing number of technology tools when they don’t integrate
  • DARK STATIONS: AI helps monitor stations with little or no staffing, and staff handle the public who arrive for help
  • CDE 1 LMR 101: Demystifying land mobile radio for users in the ECC and the field
  • CDE 2 CALL ROUTING: Satellite, telematics and the call routing plan

Ad Space Deadline: 10/23/2026

March/April 2027

The Telecommunicator: National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week

 
  • VIDEO PSYCH: A multidisciplinary group is studying how NG9-1-1 video calls are used, the psychological risks and best practices for agencies
  • DISPATCH SKILLSET: How the skills the job requires in 2027 differ from 1998, and how a new generation uses technology differently
  • SOLO ECC: What it takes to run a single-position emergency communications center
  • VIDEO RESCUE: Video calls helped locate people on the water, and other cases that show the benefits of video
  • TOOLS II: Why you have the tools, and the success stories behind them
  • NPSTW ON A BUDGET: How to mark National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and make staff feel recognized without much money
  • CDE 1 CONVERSATION CONTROL: Language telecommunicators can use to redirect a caller
  • CDE 2 RETIREMENT TRANSITION: How to help telecommunicators leave the industry and what they need to do to prepare

Ad Space Deadline: 12/17/2026

May/June 2027

Staffing, Retention & Wellness

 
  • LONGEVITY: “You’re hired, now what?” What new employees need to know and what supervisors should tell them
  • OVERTIME: Friend or foe. Staff like overtime until there is too much of it
  • TRAINER BURNOUT: What agencies can do to keep communications training officers in the job
  • LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION: Building the employees already in your center into leaders
  • AI WELLNESS: Death by a thousand paper cuts, and the thousand ways to address it
  • AI PITFALL: One ECC installed a call tree and got more calls, not fewer
  • PSYCHOLOGY: What psychology offers to improving work performance
  • STRESS TIPS: Steps staff can take to reduce stress
  • CDE 1 BRAIN DAMAGE: The ill-effects of post-traumatic stress disorder
  • CDE 2 BIG SLEEP: How sleep, or the lack of it, affects telecommunicator performance

Ad Space Deadline: 2/25/2027

July/August 2027

Professional Development & Annual Conference

 
  • HOW TO: How to get involved at the chapter level and move into national involvement with APCO
  • WHO ARE YOU? What kind of employee are you, who do you want to be, and what are you willing to do to improve yourself and others?
  • RPL PERSONAL: How the Registered Public-Safety Leader program changed one manager into a leader
  • CPE: A personal account of earning the Certified Public-Safety Executive credential
  • HIDDEN LEADER: The hidden side of leadership, including the business side nobody talks about
  • ROBERT’S RULES: What Robert’s Rules of Order are and how to be an effective participant
  • CONTENT: How to be happy as a telecommunicator without wanting to move into leadership
  • HOST CITY TRAVEL: The sights, sounds, history and flavors of the APCO 2027 host city
  • HOST CHAPTER: Progress and potential in the APCO chapter hosting the 2027 conference
  • CDE 1 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: How APCO’s international chapters are structured and how many countries APCO serves
  • CDE 2 MEMBERSHIP TRAINING BENEFITS: How professional development can be accomplished through APCO membership and chapter involvement

Ad Space Deadline: 4/23/2027

September/October 2027

Safety & Security

 
  • PHISHING: What to look for when a phishing email arrives
  • DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: When it comes home. How to keep staff experiencing domestic violence safe and able to work, and what resources exist
  • SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS: Actionable steps for messaging the community without a dedicated public information officer
  • CDE 1: Topic to come
  • CDE 2: A topical cybersecurity issue

Ad Space Deadline: 7/12/2027

November/December 2027

High Priority/Low Frequency Events

 
  • RESPONDER DOWN: An officer, firefighter or EMT goes down, told from the point of view of the telecommunicator who takes the notification
  • MUSCLE MEMORY: How telecommunicators, agencies and responders train for high-priority, low-frequency events
  • ECC EVACUATION OBSTACLES: The first time you use the continuity of operations plan should not be the first time you run it
  • WEATHER CHANGES: Changing patterns in tornadoes and straight-line winds
  • GUARD DEPLOYMENTS: How National Guard deployments affect the ECC and the community it serves
  • NJ STORMS: How New Jersey responded to major back-to-back storms
  • NAVIGATING GRIEF: Grief during the holiday season, including rising suicide rates at colleges and universities
  • CDE 1 MULTIJURISDICTIONAL: Emergencies that cross jurisdictions and what they mean for communications
  • CDE 2 LEADING COMMUNICATIONS: Taking ownership of your communications plan and putting the ECC at the center of planning

Ad Space Deadline: 8/26/2027

In Every Issue

  • President’s Channel: The President’s Message

  • On Scene: Legal, political and regulatory updates

  • Continuing Dispatch Education (CDE) Articles (2)

  • Direct Channel: Membership Updates