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Public safety events postponed and canceled due to COVID-19

As government and health officials caution large gatherings, conference leaders are heeding the warnings

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COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic on March 11, and in the days since, dozens of organizations of varying size have canceled group events, including concerts, professional sports matchups and planned festivals, as government and health officials urge social distancing procedures.

The public safety sector is no different, with many events postponed or canceled.

To better understand the financial challenges facing departments, we surveyed the FireRescue1 community about the financial impacts they expect to face at their departments. Following are the results related to travel:

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Following is a list of public safety events that have been canceled or postponed.

2021 Postponed or canceled public safety events

Event updates will be added here as we receive them.

2020 Postponed or canceled public safety events

Dozens of public safety conferences, tradeshows and expositions scheduled for 2020 were postponed or canceled.

  • 2020 Metro Atlanta EMS Conference, Inc., March 9-11: Postponed until August 2020
  • 11th Annual Southern Ohio EMS Conference, March 14: Postponed
  • Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agency (CALEA) Conference, March 17-19: Canceled
  • International Round Table on Community Paramedicine, March 18-19: Moved to an online format
  • IAFC, Wildland Urban Interface conference, March 21-26, 2020: Postponed until November 2020
  • Annual Utah Chiefs of Police Association Conference, March 23-25: Postponed
  • International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), March 23-28: Postponed until August 2-7
  • EMS on the Hill, March 24-25: Canceled
  • 2020 KEMSA Conference & Expo, March 27-29: Postponed until November 6-8
  • International Wireless Communications Expo, March 30-April 3: Postponed until August 24-28
  • Fire Districts Association of California Annual Conference, March 31-April 3: Canceled
  • Idaho Fire Chiefs Association 51st Annual Conference, April 2-5: Postponed
  • 2020 North Dakota EMS Association’s Annual Conference and Tradeshow, April 2-4: Postponed until October 2-4
  • American Jail Association 39th Annual Conference and Jail Show, April 4-8: Postponed
  • Texas Police Chiefs Association Annual Conference, April 6-9: Postponed until August 24-27
  • Annual Kansas Associations of Chiefs of Police Leadership and Technology Conference, April 6-9: Canceled
  • Michigan Fire Chiefs Midwest Fire Rescue Expo, April 7-8: Postponed until July 13-15
  • Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association (MCOPA) Annual Conference, April 8-9: Postponed until Fall 2020
  • Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference, April 8-9: Postponed until June 30-July 1
  • NEMSAC April 2020 Meeting, April 14-16: Canceled, next meeting scheduled for August 18-20
  • FDIC 2020, April 19-25: Postponed
  • California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) 42nd Annual Training Symposium, April 20-21: Postponed until July 13-14
  • Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association Executive Training Institute & Law Enforcement Conference, April 20-24: Postponed until November 1-4
  • 2020 Southeast Police Motorcycle Safety Skills and Training Seminar, April 22-25: Postponed

  • Texas EMS Educators Summit 2020, April 24-25: Postponed
  • 19th Annual Plains to Peaks EMS & Trauma Conference, April 25-26: Postponed until September 2020
  • NAPED/NAUMD Conference, April 26-28: Postponed
  • Oregon Fire Chiefs Association Spring Conference, April 28-May 1: Postponed until July 28-31
  • CFSI National Fire and Emergency Services Symposium, April 29-30: Postponed
  • California Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremonies, May 3-4: Canceled
  • American Ambulance Association 2020 Stars of Life, May 4-6: Canceled
  • Securus Summit, May 5-7: Canceled
  • National Police Week 2020, May 10-16: Canceled
  • Fallen Law Enforcement Officers Candlelight Vigil, May 13: Changed to virtual candlelight vigil
  • National EMS Weekend of Honor, May 15-17: Canceled
  • EMS Leadership Network’s European EMS Congress 2020, May 25-27: Postponed until April 19-21, 2021
  • IAFC International Hazardous Materials Response Teams Conference, June 13-16: Canceled
  • INTERSCHUTZ (Hannover), June 15-20, 2020: Postponed until June 14-19, 2021
  • NASEMSO 2020 Annual Meeting, June 15-18, 2020: Postponed until August 31-September 3, 2020
  • 15th annual Pinnacle Leadership conference, July 27-31: Postponed until August 9-13, 2021
  • 2020 NAEMSE Symposium, August 3-8: Canceled
  • Fire-Rescue International, Aug. 19-21: In-person event canceled, replaced with virtual event

Did we miss one? Let us know in the comments and we’ll get it added.

Grant extensions

The COPS Office has extended the solicitation deadline for several open grant programs due to the potential impact of jurisdictional emergency responses to COVID-19 that may cause reasonable delays for applicants.

Additional Resources

COVID-19 staffing impacts: How first responders can continue to serve

How long to quarantine COVID-19 exposed police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics

Rachel Engel is an award-winning journalist and the senior editor of FireRescue1.com and EMS1.com. In addition to her regular editing duties, Engel seeks to tell the heroic, human stories of first responders and the importance of their work. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, and began her career as a freelance writer, focusing on government and military issues. Engel joined Lexipol in 2015 and has since reported on issues related to public safety. Engel lives in Wichita, Kansas. She can be reached via email.