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SCHENECTADY COUNTY
Central dispatching report due Task force eyes single center for 911 calls
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    A consultant will present the findings of a yearlong study on creating a central dispatch center in Schenectady County to a task force on Oct. 3, officials said.
    Bill Diman, the county’s 911 coordinator, said the task force will then decide the next steps in the complicated project.
    “At this point there are signifi - cant pieces of this project to be decided on,” Diman said. “We are now looking at governance — who is going to run this.”
    He gave no timeline as to when central dispatch — a single center that receives all 911 calls and dispatches police, fire and emergency medical services in each municipality — will proceed to the next step.
    The county is now served by separate emergency dispatch centers in Rotterdam, Glenville, the city, Niskayuna, the state police barracks in Princetown and the sheriff’s department.
    The centers use different radio frequencies, making it difficult for them to communicate with one another and sometimes with different emergency services within the same jurisdiction, Diman said.
    The consultant, the New York State Technology Enterprise Corp., is recommending a central dispatch system that will tie together the local centers, possibly using a wireless system operated by the state, Diman said.
    “If it goes as the current draft envisions, then the current police agencies would not do dispatch. We would have centralized dispatch to receive all 911 calls and be able to dispatch all of the services,” Diman said.
    Diman deemed as too expensive the prospect of replacing each municipality’s radio system with a system that operates on the same frequency. The cost of such a system is estimated at more than $15 million. “We can do central dispatch in advance of coming up with a common radio system,” he said.
    The municipalities would maintain their current communication systems, as some calls would still be directed to them, Diman said.
    The county used a $100,000 state grant to pay the technology corporation, a private, nonprofi t engineering company, to perform the study.
    While county officials hash out details over central dispatch, at least one municipality, Glenville, is moving ahead with plans to update its 23-year-old communications system.
    Glenville Town Manager Tony Germano said “We were hopeful we would be able to see some designs and work with some surrounding towns and agree to an implementation schedule and move forward.”
    Glenville will spend $1.5 million to buy communication consoles and build two additional signal towers, giving the town four towers. The extra towers will fill in signal gaps, Germano said. “Our coverage was so depleted that we needed to do something.”
    Germano said he expects Glenville’s system and the proposed central dispatch system to mesh at some future point. “We do not want to invest in technology that will be discarded,” he said.

All the systems could be tied together with a single radio channel and all the surrounding 911 centers could be on the same frequency when and if needed.

And didn't Rotterdam just spend a few grand on updating it's communications system for the police dept?

Yes, they did.  And Niskayuna either just did or is currently looking into updating.  Just another way they can give a reason for a steep tax hike on the county level...to see no savings at the town/village/city level.

Didn't they all get that infamous Homeland security grant $$.....where is that and how is it budgeted or did they make the crap up????
dont raise my taxes trying to 'hide' the free ride.......

Yes Rotterdam did get the grant from Homeland Security.

SHOW ME THE $$$ TRAIL---------

I am for anything that saves the money for the taxpayers as long as it doesnit hurt the police overe here in Rotterdam!!

SHOW ME THE $$ TRAIL!!!! AND WHERE DID IT GO????

It ($) went to their new communication system for the police dept.

And?????

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SCHENECTADY COUNTY
Let county do the dispatching, consultant says

BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    A consultant is recommending Schenectady County take over dispatching emergency calls now handled by five separate agencies.
    The “unified communication center” could be up and running by 2012, said Leland Palmer, of New York State Technology Enterprise Corp. Palmer presented the fi ndings of yearlong study at Monday night’s committee meeting of the Schenectady County Legislature.
    County Legislator Judith Dagostino, chairwoman of the Committee on Intergovernmental Operations, said she will ask the Legislature to support the recommendation at its Dec. 9 meeting.
    Dagostino said the study’s recommendation has already been shared with representatives of municipalities with dispatch centers. The municipalities are being asked to pass similar resolutions of support, she said.
    Palmer said the county could run the unified center with 48 employees, three fewer than are currently employed by the other dispatch centers. The annual cost to operate the center is estimated at $4.3 million the first year and $4.2 million the second year. “You save money over the long term,” as each municipality would not have to maintain a dispatch center, Palmer said.
    The study found the five centers cost a total of $4.3 million per year to operate: The city police dispatch center costs $1.7 million; Rotterdam’s, $768,000; Niskayuna’s, $593,000; and Glenville’s, $787,000.
    In September, the Glenville Town Board voted to bond up to $1.5 million to purchase a communications center to replace 23-yearold equipment, to which it could no longer find replacement parts and which has spotty coverage of the town. Town officials have said that this ............................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00903

Interesting to note that Angelo Santabarbara has no information about central dispatch.  He called me last night after the county leg. meeting to ask me about it.  He also had no information given to him for the county sales tax agreement.  I will fax him all info on county dispatch today but can't help him out on sales tax info since I have had absolutely no communication on this issue until 9:15 pm last night.

Leland Palmer -->Does he have white hair and sing show tunes?
-->Sorry, had a "Twin Peaks" moment when I saw the name..

But as far as this concept goes, it's a good/bad thing.  This sort of consolidation can work, as long as a few things are done along the way:
1. Bring over the 911 dispatchers form the localities.  They have the local knowledge needed for fast repsonse times, as they can better direct emergency vehicles;
2. Have up to date equipement.  This means current communications, as well as computers and GPS systems (vital for 911 cell phone calls).
3. Keep it restricted to 911 services.  Don't burden the center with routine calls, or file checks, or other SOPs.
4. Be sure that all involved agencies are fully and properly integrated.  And that they stay that way.  One hiccup in this chain, and it just won't work.

The downside of this, is the lack of local control and responisibility.  The "divorce" if you will from the local level to the county level can create a degree of mistrust as to the competence of the dispatcher (mainly as to knowing where you are), and can also give the impression of a delay in response to a call.

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Interesting to note that Angelo Santabarbara has no information about central dispatch.  He called me last night after the county leg. meeting to ask me about it.  He also had no information given to him for the county sales tax agreement.  I will fax him all info on county dispatch today but can't help him out on sales tax info since I have had absolutely no communication on this issue until 9:15 pm last night.

Rene, do you know if Joe Suhrada was informed?