Posted: September 9th, 2022

Emergency Communication and Public Safety in New York State

Emergency Communication and Public Safety in New York State

Introduction
The newly elected governor of New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the members of the legislature prioritizes the improvement of emergency communication and enhancement of public safety operation as presented in his political agenda and manifestation for his 2019 session. The governor’s main aim is to address challenges faced in emergency communication department which mainly reflects how the department responds to public safety-related issues in the state (“Governor Cuomo Announces More than $32 Million in State Grant Funding to Improve Emergency Communications in Seven Counties,” 2018). The department has been facing big challenges from the chain of command to how they respond to emergencies on the ground. This creates a need for a revolution of the department to improve service delivery for the benefits of the New York citizens and repainting the image of the department. This paper provides a discussion on appropriate measures to be taken by the governor and his administrations and suggestion for policy formulation by the members of the legislature for improvement of emergency communication and enhancement of public safety operations.
Emergency communication and public safety have been an issue of concern over years in New York State especially while referring to how the government responds to emergencies experienced by the members of the public. Without blaming the department for the delay in responses and poor service delivery, it would be appropriate to focus on challenges the department experiences to enable drawing relevant recommendations for implementations by the New York Government (Goodman, 2017). Emergency communication faces a major problem in the chain of command where the order has to come from the top office before the responders act on a reported emergency. Personal miscommunication is also a problem experienced in the department. The department also gets a challenge of reception with difficulties in accessing the emergency areas, provision of poor functioning equipment, and improper use of available equipment.
Now that the governor and the newly elected leaders have majored in addressing this challenge, diverse initiatives need to be taken to enable the New York government manage to solve the challenges existing in emergency communication and enhance public safety operations. The issue would mainly focus on enhancement of implementation of existing policies and formulation of more extensive policies to address the noticed problem. It is believed that when the members of the public are served well and their problems addressed effectively, there is a minimal political crisis and people build their trust with the government. The governor has therefore promised to provide full support for the improvement of emergency communication sector and the improvement of public safety operations (From staff reports, 2018).
Among the efforts made by the governor and the new government is providing financial support for the improvement of emergency communication. For instance, the governor has announced a release of over $32 million to improve emergency communication infrastructure and enhance public safety operations. The fund is distributed among the New York counties with close monitoring to ensure that they are appropriately used for the intended purposes. The government has launched construction of new radio towers to facilitate the update of the existing communication infrastructures. The county projects aim at helping counties and local governments to enhance and improve their capabilities on critical emergency communication. The state has also received a support in nine Regional Emergency Communication Consortiums from the Steward Interoperable Communication Grant program courtesy of the state government. This would help to improve critical emergency communication in New York State and enhancement of coordination between counties, state, and federal agencies.
To ensure successful implementation of the set strategies, the state government should ensure policy implementation on State Interoperable Emergency Communication (SIEC). The New York State County law has provided establishment of SIEC board that is placed in the division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. The duties outlined in this law for the board include recommending to the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services commissioner on grant expenditure and other funding program that supports interoperable and emergency communications. The board also ensures recommendations on the development, coordination, and implementation of available policies, plans, and strategies that ensures enhancement in emergency communication and responses. Structures and guidelines that maintain interoperable communication planning and coordination at the statewide level among other functions (“DHSES OIEC SIEC,” 2018). This board is headed by the director of the office of interoperable end emergency communication and has executive, senate, and assembly appointees and state agency members ensuring equal representation to express the needs of the public.
The state government is therefore expected to enhance policies established under the SIEC Board and also formulate more extensive policies and regulations that ensure improvement in emergency communication and enhancement of public safety operations. The major focus on policy formulation should involve technology advancement in the field to enhance communication and response to emergencies. The state government should ensure construction of wireless broadband to compliment LMR which would meet the requirements for emergency response voice communication. Data collection on areas of high risk for emergencies needs to be electronically synthesized and interpreted for easy management of emergent situations through enhanced communication. The policies should also address the allocated fund for emergency communication department to ensure that the department can rum its programs properly.
Conclusion
The state government of New York city under the leadership of Governor Cuomo and the elected legislative members have initiated a program to improve emergency communication and enhance public safety operation in the state. The state government has shown their concern by increasing funding on projects that supplement the project and initiating agencies to financially support the project. Implementation of existing policies and formulation of new supportive policies would greatly improve the targeted sector. The governor has to ensure collective effort of all stakeholders in ensuring the success of the implementation of the project for the benefit of the members of the public.

References
DHSES OIEC SIEC. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.dhses.ny.gov/oiec/siec/
From staff reports. (2018, October 10). Emergency communication upgrades funded. Retrieved from http://www.dansvilleonline.com/news/20181011/strongemergency-communication-upgrades-fundedstrong
Goodman, R. (2017, December 19). 5 Emergency Communication Challenges Emergency Responders Face. Retrieved from http://blog.basecampconnect.com/english/5-emergency-communication-challenges-emergency-responders-face
Governor Cuomo Announces More than $32 Million in State Grant Funding to Improve Emergency Communications in Seven Counties. (2018, November 29). Retrieved from https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-more-32-million-state-grant-funding-improve-emergency-communications

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