Mangano Offers Details of New 911 System

Construction workers at Nassau County's new Public Safety Center (PSC) were using Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" to help make the time pass Thursday.

But several hundred feet away, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano was trying to appease residents who saw way too much of it last month and struggled to get the help they needed via 911.

During a press conference, Mangano gave details about the new call center that is scheduled to be up and running in late fall at the Westbury location, and the $7 million reallocated from the 2010 capital plan to bolster its capabilities.

The new PSC will have 38 "state-of-the-art" console positions — double the number of the current setup in the basement of the Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola. During the March 13 storm, which left tens of thousands without power, an overburdened system rerouted Nassau callers to dispatchers as far away as Albany.

"It is very, very important that we are able to address a storm of that degree by having our residents reach a Nassau County operator so that their response time is as swift as possible," Mangano said.

In the interim, the county is in the process of setting up an 800 number for reporting non-emergencies — such as downed trees — to alleviate potential strain on the current system. While there is still talk of how to exactly implement that program, Mangano added that if a severe storm forecast came up, "I could activate an 800 number immediately."

The county executive said the reallocation of funds will affect some road projects that can wait until next year, but that the money is mostly coming from other county technology projects that aren't as pressing as public safety.

"The people of Nassau County will not feel a pinch," Mangano said, later adding, "It's a smart use of the money."