New York has awarded $55 million to 57 counties and New York City to bolster the state’s emergency response and communications systems.
The funding will come from two grant programs – a $45 million grant under the State Interoperable Communications Formula Grant Program and a $10 million grant under the Public Safety Answering Point Grant Program.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office noted that both grant programs fall under the Statewide Interoperable Communications Grant program, which reimburses eligible counties for spending that will improve their emergency communication systems, and allocates funding to enhance public safety call-taking and dispatching abilities.
“Ensuring the safety of New Yorkers is my top priority, and a reliable emergency dispatch system is critical for getting first responders where they’re needed – fast,” Gov. Hochul said. “This additional funding will strengthen emergency communications across the State, helping counties upgrade technology, improve training and enhance their response capabilities. I remain committed to advancing public safety efforts year after year, ensuring every community has the resources it needs and deserves.”
The State Interoperable Communications Formula Grant (SICG-Formula) is focused on minimizing gaps in interoperable communications. It does so by aligning technology acquisitions with its operational use by first responders. This alignment helps provide the foundation necessary to accomplish a high level of interoperability.
The grant allows the state to reimburse eligible expenses that help localities in maintain and improve communications systems and components, training and exercises, and governance structures. It also supports county public safety organizations in enhancing emergency response, improving capability and performance results from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Emergency Communications Plan, improving operating procedures and infrastructure development, and addressing SAFECOM guidance from the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
The Public Safety Answering Point Operations Grant (PSAP) is noncompetitive and allocates money via multi-factorial criteria. The criteria include operational scope, demographic elements, emergency services call metrics, deployment of new technology, and adherence with state and national guidelines for emergency communications.
The grant supports an awardee’s existing operations and encourages the development of Next Generation 911 (NG911) technologies and the Geographic Information System (GIS) data needed for NG911. The PSAP grant also promotes the development of operational and procedural efficiencies and overall collaboration between different jurisdictions, such as other counties and state agencies.
