OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) – Ogdensburg is setting deadlines for consolidating some of its emergency calls with St. Lawrence County.
City leaders want third-shift police dispatching to be done through the county’s 911 center by October 5, and it wants all citizens to use “911” for emergencies – not the police station or fire house number.
Anyone calling either for emergencies after December 1 will be told to call 911.
County officials say they want to work toward consolidation, but it’s going to take a while.
“In 2021, dialing 10 digits for emergency services is very inefficient and it doesn’t provide our dispatchers at the police station with location information, or caller identification information, or addressing that you get when you use the E-911 system,” said Stephen Jellie, Ogdensburg city manager.
“For October 5, we currently could not do that,” said Matthew Denner, St. Lawrence County Emergency Services director. “We are aiming for – to be able to absorb – at least one shift at this time in Ogdensburg in the future.”
To further complicate things, renovations to the county’s 911 center are about to start, which will cut the number of dispatcher stations for about 6 to 9 months.
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