Letter to Governor Hochul: New York’s 911 dispatchers need your help!

Contact Governor Kathy Hochul and ask her to sign S.7635B/A.9162A into law

Dear Governor Hochul:

My name is Casey D. Howe, and I serve as a Supervising Emergency Services Dispatcher at the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office. I am writing to respectfully urge you to sign S.7635B/A.9162A into law and provide New York’s counties and municipalities with the option to offer a 25-year retirement plan to their 911 dispatchers and emergency communications professionals.

I have had the privilege of working alongside my teammate, Dustin Zajicek, other members of AFSCME Council 66, union representatives, dispatchers, and advocates from across New York State on this effort for nearly two years. Reaching this point has required a tremendous amount of work, cooperation, education, and advocacy. More importantly, it has required dispatchers from throughout the state to share the difficult realities of a profession that is too often overlooked.

911 dispatchers are the first point of contact for people experiencing the worst moments of their lives. Before police officers, firefighters, or emergency medical personnel arrive, a dispatcher is already managing the emergency. We answer calls involving violent crimes, suicides, fatal accidents, structure fires, medical emergencies, injured children, domestic violence, and countless other traumatic situations.

We must remain calm while callers are panicked, terrified, injured, or grieving. We provide lifesaving instructions, gather critical information, coordinate multiple responding agencies, monitor the safety of field personnel, and make decisions in seconds that can affect whether someone lives or dies. When one emergency ends, another call or radio transmission may come in immediately. There is often no opportunity to process what we have just heard before we must help the next person.

The cumulative mental, emotional, and physical effects of this work are significant. Dispatchers carry the voices and experiences of callers long after a shift has ended. Years of exposure to trauma, combined with mandatory overtime, rotating shifts, disrupted sleep, staffing shortages, and the constant pressure of making the correct decision create an extraordinary risk of burnout. This is not ordinary office work. It is demanding public safety work performed in a high-stress environment, twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year.

Signing this legislation would acknowledge the true nature of that service. It would tell dispatchers throughout New York State that their sacrifices are recognized and that the work they perform is an essential part of the public safety system.

This legislation is especially important to rural communities such as Allegany County. Rural 911 centers often operate with limited staffing and a smaller pool of qualified applicants. At the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, our dispatchers are responsible for coordinating law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical responses across a large geographic area. They must understand numerous agencies, jurisdictions, radio systems, emergency procedures, and community resources.

When an experienced dispatcher leaves, our center does not simply lose an employee. We lose years of training, local knowledge, sound judgment, and experience that cannot be quickly replaced. Recruiting and training a new dispatcher requires a substantial investment, and not every candidate can successfully complete the training or withstand the demands of the profession.

The ability to offer a 25-year retirement plan would provide Allegany County and other local governments with a valuable recruitment and retention tool. It would help us attract capable candidates, retain experienced professionals, reduce turnover, protect institutional knowledge, and maintain the level of emergency service our residents expect and deserve.

This legislation does not automatically impose a retirement plan upon every community. It gives participating employers the ability to evaluate their local needs and elect to provide the benefit. That local option is particularly important because each county and municipality understands its own workforce, staffing challenges, and public safety responsibilities.

Governor Hochul, signing S.7635B/A.9162A would be a meaningful and historic step for New York’s 911 professionals. It would recognize that the people behind the headset are an essential part of every emergency response. It would also help ensure that experienced, highly trained dispatchers remain available to answer New Yorkers’ calls for help for generations to come.

On behalf of my fellow dispatchers at the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office and emergency communications professionals throughout New York State, I respectfully ask you to sign this legislation into law.

Thank you for your consideration and for recognizing the vital role that 911 dispatchers play in protecting the people of New York State.