September 9, 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Democrats Demand Answers to Failed 911 Emergency Service
TROY, NY – The Rensselaer County’s 911 Emergency Communications System crashed around 8:30 pm on Wednesday, September 8th due to a storm surge. All indications are that full service was not restored for well over five (5) hours and all back-up systems failed as well. County officials were delayed in issuing a public warning that the system was down and secondary systems had failed.
For the past few years, Rensselaer County has pressured local municipalities to join the County 911 system. All municipalities, with the exception of the Town of East Greenbush, are part of this emergency service system. “This is not the first time the County has been made aware of flaws with this relatively new 911 service that has cost taxpayers over $15 million. Addressing these emergency service concerns immediately is essential,” stated Legislative Leader Peter Grimm.
“Ironically, the failure of the County’s multi-million dollar 911 Communication System came about at the same time the County Executive is distributing hundreds of thousands of surplus taxpayer dollars to local emergency service organizations. None of the taxpayers’ money being distributed by the County Executive will matter if the County’s 911 Communication Center is unable to withstand a thunderstorm,” said Legislator Carole Weaver in a memo to Chairman Mike Stammel.
“ Democratic Legislative Minority members requested back in June that the County Executive provide a plan related to the distribution of over a million dollars of taxpayer money; clearly, funding is desperately needed to fix the County’s 911 Communication System. Once again, there is no system of checks and balances,” stated Legislator Cindy Doran.
In her memo to Legislative Chairman Mike Stammel and other members of the County’s Public Safety Committee, County Legislator Carole Weaver requested that a complete accounting of the 911 failure be reported along with specific recommendations for actions to be taken for immediate upgrades and improvements to the system. “We were fortunate to have no reported causalities last evening – we need results, we cannot take any more chances,” stated Weaver.
TROY, NY – The Rensselaer County’s 911 Emergency Communications System crashed around 8:30 pm on Wednesday, September 8th due to a storm surge. All indications are that full service was not restored for well over five (5) hours and all back-up systems failed as well. County officials were delayed in issuing a public warning that the system was down and secondary systems had failed.
For the past few years, Rensselaer County has pressured local municipalities to join the County 911 system. All municipalities, with the exception of the Town of East Greenbush, are part of this emergency service system. “This is not the first time the County has been made aware of flaws with this relatively new 911 service that has cost taxpayers over $15 million. Addressing these emergency service concerns immediately is essential,” stated Legislative Leader Peter Grimm.
“Ironically, the failure of the County’s multi-million dollar 911 Communication System came about at the same time the County Executive is distributing hundreds of thousands of surplus taxpayer dollars to local emergency service organizations. None of the taxpayers’ money being distributed by the County Executive will matter if the County’s 911 Communication Center is unable to withstand a thunderstorm,” said Legislator Carole Weaver in a memo to Chairman Mike Stammel.
“ Democratic Legislative Minority members requested back in June that the County Executive provide a plan related to the distribution of over a million dollars of taxpayer money; clearly, funding is desperately needed to fix the County’s 911 Communication System. Once again, there is no system of checks and balances,” stated Legislator Cindy Doran.
In her memo to Legislative Chairman Mike Stammel and other members of the County’s Public Safety Committee, County Legislator Carole Weaver requested that a complete accounting of the 911 failure be reported along with specific recommendations for actions to be taken for immediate upgrades and improvements to the system. “We were fortunate to have no reported causalities last evening – we need results, we cannot take any more chances,” stated Weaver.