The New Hartford Central Dispatch Center was established in the summer of 1991. It brought together all emergency services in the Town of New Hartford under one centralized communications center. Prior to its creation, dispatching of emergency services was handled separately by the various agencies operating in the town. This "patchwork" of dispatching methods made inter-agency communications difficult at best. Also, dispatching for the fire departments usually involved private citizens literally working out of their home. The private answering service although adequate at one time, was now being outpaced by the increased requests for assistance.

The Dispatch Center began with 5 full-time dispatchers, 1 Supervisor and a single radio console. We Dispatch both the Town of New Hartford Police and the Village of New York Mills Police. Dispatching is also provided for the New Hartford Fire Department, New York Mills Fire Department and the Willowvale Fire Company. Emergency calls are handled for the Town of New Hartford Highway Department and both Village of New Hartford and New York Mill's Departments of Public Work's. Central also handles all calls for the Town's Animal Control Officer.

The center operates on 8 hour shifts, 24 hours per day, seven days a week and quickly realized to staff adequately would require additional personnel. They also needed additional equipment to function effectively. Almost immediately a second radio console was installed and in March 1992, 5 part-time dispatchers were hired.

We also utilize the latest technology to give the public the best service possible.  Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) gives the dispatcher the ability to locate an address to the closest two intersections. CAD also keeps records of all Hazardous Materials located within the town.  In addition, listings are kept of all residents with health concerns or disabilities that may be important to know in an emergency.

In the early 90's, Oneida County had begun to revisit the idea of instituting 911 service in the county. After much time and effort, Oneida County did activate a countywide Enhanced (E-911) 911 system in December 1995. This giant leap forward provides every resident, business and visitor in the county a single number to call for easy access to help in an emergency. Enhanced 911 utilizes the latest technology to route to caller to the nearest appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) based on the location of the telephone. New Hartford Central Dispatch is a PSAP for Oneida County 911. All phone, computer and recording equipment necessary for providing E-911 to the residents of New Hartford is funded through the county’s 35¢ surcharge levied on your phone bill.

The Dispatch Center in conjunction with the New Hartford Police Department brought the first Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) network to Central New York. MDT's are the use of laptop computers in the patrol cars that give the officers direct access to the State & National databases via radio links. The laptops also give officers the ability to communicate with each other and with the dispatch center in a secure manner to safeguard confidential matters. To date, this network has been expanded to include the New York Mills Police, Kirkland Police, Sherrill Police, the Oneida County Sheriff's Department and the New York State Police (Marcy Barracks). Since it's introduction in New Hartford, the Utica and Rome Police Departments have installed similar systems.

Today we have 6 full-time dispatchers, 12 part-time and 1 Supervisor. In addition to the Town Agencies we dispatch for, we now contract with the Villages of Whitesboro and Yorkville to provide dispatching for their fire departments. The town has also enacted a shared services agreement with the Town of Kirkland for Animal Control effectively doubling the territory Central Dispatch answers for in animal cases. Over 60,000 calls for service are handled annually. Better than 80% of those calls are for “non-emergency” calls. In fact, only approximately 4,000 calls or 6.7% of our calls received come in on 911 lines.

Emergency Calls from your Cell Phone

It is important to note that many legitimate "*" numbers do exist but are often specific to local or regional areas. Also, they may be limited or tied to a specific Cellular company. Dialing 911 from your cellular phone will get you the police (and any other emergency services) in an Emergency.

Within the Town of New Hartford you can also reach the police by dialing *666 on any Cingular or Verizon wireless phones. These calls are free and ring directly into the Dispatch Center on Kellogg Road. The Center also dispatches the Town’s 3 fire service agencies and has the ability to dispatch ambulances.