The General Assembly formed the E-911 Border Response Workgroup (the “Workgroup") to assess the deficiencies related to the timely routing of 911 calls to the appropriate public-safety answering point (PSAP) across either state or county borders. The Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security (the “Secretary") appointed individuals to the Workgroup representing the following stakeholder groups:

• Virginia Office of Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security

• Virginia General Assembly

• Virginia Residents

• Virginia 9-1-1 Services Board

• 9-1-1/PSAP Community

• Emergency Management Community

The Workgroup’s objective was to complete a report by April 1, 2021 that contains recommendations to improve the routing and processing of 9-1-1 calls to the appropriate PSAP across state borders and/or county boundaries based on lessons learned. To develop this report, the Workgroup met virtually and collaborated with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s (VDEM’s) 9-1-1 and Geospatial Services (NGS) Bureau staff to collect information on problems with the current system and processes; review mitigation solutions already implemented by localities and citizen groups; and, determine best practices. The

Workgroup investigated the five functional areas related to 9-1-1 systems and processes:

• Governance

• Technology/NG9-1-1 Deployment

• Equipment, Operations and Mitigation Strategies

• 9-1-1 Personnel and Training

• Funding and Compensation

The Workgroup had an extensive list of findings and the following recommendations:

• Develop a Cross Border 9-1-1 Call Processing Best Practice

• Support the implementation of additional 9-1-1 best practices in the Commonwealth

• Improve wireless 9-1-1 location accuracy

• Address telecommunicator compensation, reclassification, recruitment, training, and retention

• Form a NG9-1-1 Leadership Commission