Suffolk officials to meet on emergency readiness plan

Top Suffolk County public safety and communications officials and Executive Steve Levy are scheduled to meet early next week to begin an update of emergency readiness plans.

The meeting, which could take place Monday or Tuesday, comes roughly a month after a nor'easter of surprising force lashed Long Island and overwhelmed 911 systems, leading to thousands of calls not reaching operators in Suffolk and Nassau counties. Officials said 1 in 5 calls were abandoned, meaning callers could not get through and hung up. There were 1 in 7 abandoned calls in Nassau.

Both governments are taking steps to improve performance of their 911 systems and to increase readiness for emergencies. Suffolk hopes to complete much of its update by June 1, the start of hurricane season.

A number of calls to the counties' 911 systems were for non-life-threatening situations like power losses or downed trees. In many cases, officials said, multiple calls were logged for the same downed wire or limb.

Dan Aug, Suffolk communications director, said one aim of the meeting will be to devise ways to get the word out that for nonemergency situations, it's best to call 852-COPS, a dedicated police line for quality-of-life complaints, not 911.

In addition to Levy, Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Williams, Deputy Commissioner John Searing, Police Commissioner Richard Dormer and Information Technology Commissioner Gary Quinn will be meeting.

Aug said the group will establish the scope of the review, which will examine the roles of various personnel in the 911 system, its staffing levels and the emergency practices of other jurisdictions.

Also for consideration, Aug said, will be how to manage the county's bus fleet during storms and how to use the county Health & Human Services Department's nine health centers in crises.

In Nassau, County Executive Edward Mangano pledged two days after the storm to allocate $7 million to purchase additional work stations where 911 operators could take calls.

Jim Callahan, Nassau's Emergency Management Commissioner, said on April 22, he and Mangano will meet with Verizon to explore setting up a nonemergency number for the county. The strategy for Nassau, Callahan said, is to boost the number of work stations in the 911 system while creating a nonemergency option for the public.