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State denies request to release Next Gen 911 rollout plan, coordinators concerned counties will be on their own

The NYS Dept. of Homeland Security and Emergency Services denied 2 On Your Side's FOIL request to see a copy of its Next Gen 911 plan.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State has fallen behind other states when it comes to 911 services that are available. 

Dozens of states are actively working to implement Next Gen 911 (NG911) systems. 

NG911 shifts 911 services away from copper phone lines and transitions the system to a fiberoptic IP based service. 

This means during an emergency someone could text, send photos or videos to a 911 dispatcher. 

All current text-911 services, like the ones deployed in Erie and Niagara Counties, are actually routed through a 3rd party vendor before being sent to central dispatch. 

New York State's Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services has asked the legislature for $20 million towards NG911. 

But aside from asking for funding, New York hasn't publicly announced how it intends to roll out NG911, how much it will cost, and whether or not individual counties will be on the hook for implementing it themselves. 

NYSDHSES has been working on a draft report for the deployment of Next Gen 911 since 2019. 

2 On Your Side submitted a Freedom Of Information Law request to obtain the report. 

WGRZ's request was denied, as NYSDHSES determined the request was not public yet and considered inter/intra-agency material. 

"In some cases, New York State is behind the ball," said Marc Kasprzak, president of the NYS 911 Coordinators Association. "Large states like California, they're in a build right now of a statewide Next Gen 911 system."

Kasprzak is concerned that New York will punt the responsibility of updating 911 systems to the counties, which for many would be financially problematic.

"Based on our budget, it's just not feasible," Kasprzak said. "We don't want to start seeing individual counties start building bits and pieces that would be difficult connect afterwards."

Kasprzak says that the 911 coordinators have met with DHSES commissioner Jackie Bray, but also indicated that no clear rollout plan has been shared with coordinators across the state. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services declined an interview request by WGRZ. 

However, the spokesperson said the $20 million being sought by the department for NG911 will be used to:

"Create NY Emergency Services IP Network. The Executive Budget includes $20 million to assist counties in transitioning to Next Generation 911 via a fiberoptic cable network that would connect to a single Public Service Answering Point in each county."

Kasprzak highlighted the recent blizzard as a scenario when NG911 being deployed across the state would have been very useful from an emergency management standpoint. 

"Erie County 911 centers were overwhelmed with calls and trying to follow up on 911 calls," Kasprzak said. "[NG911] would allow counties from not even next to us, but but anywhere in New York State to help with those services, because we'd all be on the same platform."

If the entire state had NG911, Erie County could have easily routed 911 calls to a county that wasn't impacted by the storm. 

A 2018 report released by the federal government indicates that, on the low end, implementation of NG911 would collectively cost $10.5 billion. If that were simply divided between every state, it would cost NYS $210 million to deploy a statewide NG911 system. 

WGRZ directly asked the NYSDHSES how much it would cost to implement, but did not receive a response. 

"It'd be hundreds of millions, potentially," Kasprzak said. 

Funding is available at the federal level for NG911 deployment.

New York State, however, is not eligible to receive it, according to Kasprzak, because the state diverts portions of the emergency services surcharge to the general fund. 

"Those emergency services surcharge on your cell phone bill, where the FCC says that money should go to 911 services, your state's been deemed to use some of those funds in other areas," Kasprzak said. "A portion that goes into the general fund every year."

According to the state tax code, $0.47 from the $1.20 surcharge is shifted into the general fund. 

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