The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) today announced that a total of $10 million in grants have been awarded to localities across the State to support emergency response operations. These grant funds, administered by DHSES, will allow municipalities in 57 counties and the City of New York to make improvements to their 911 response and emergency service dispatch operations.

The funding is administered by DHSES through the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) Operations Grant. Public safety facilities, known as PSAPs, receive incoming calls for help and initiate dispatching of emergency services. Throughout New York State, counties provide the majority of 911 answering and dispatching operations, and coordinate the services among municipal, county and State responders. The annual grant allows for State reimbursement to counties for eligible public safety call-taking and dispatching expenses. All counties and the City of New York can apply to receive grant funds, and all chose to participate in the program this year.

The grant not only helps county operators offset their day-to-day expenses, but can also foster upgrades in call-taking and dispatching technology and investing in new services such as text messaging, data communication and improved geo-location for emergency response.

DHSES Commissioner John P. Melville said, “The PSAP Operations Grant has provided $48 million to New York counties since the program’s inception in 2010, and these funds play a vital role in helping our communities upgrade their emergency communications capabilities. This multimillion dollar program has already allowed numerous counties to begin upgrading equipment to support next-generation 911 technologies including text messaging to 911, and our goal remains to assist counties with implementing this advanced technology over time.”

This grant is a non-competitive, formula-based grant.  Monies are distributed among participating counties based on statistics reflective of a county’s operational scope, demographic factors, and emergency services call metrics. By participating in the program, counties affirm their adherence with State and national guidelines for emergency communications.

The $10 million available for the program is allocated as follows:

About DHSES

The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) and its four offices -- Counter Terrorism, Emergency Management, Fire Prevention and Control, and Interoperable and Emergency Communications -- provide leadership, coordination and support for efforts to prevent, protect against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorism and other man-made and natural disasters, threats, fires and other emergencies. For more information, visit the DHSES Facebook page, follow @NYSDHSES on Twitter, or visit dhses.ny.gov.