Ontario County task force to look at 911 communications center

The future status of the 911 emergency communications division is somewhat of a side issue in the recently approved county investigation into allegations of wrongdoing in the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office. 

Now, the communications division is part of the Sheriff’s Office, and it’s a busy place. In 2020, the 911 center answered 13,039 emergency medical calls and 4,105 fire calls, according to the Sheriff’s Office's recently released annual report.  

The Ontario County Board of Supervisors earlier in the month voted to create a task force to see if that department should stand alone, work independently from the Sheriff’s Office in some other way or keep the status quo. 

The operation of 911 as a division of the Sheriff’s Office has been a point of discussion for a number of years, specifically since the county took over dispatching from the city of Geneva, according to County Administrator Chris DeBolt. 

The 911 division is not constitutionally mandated to be controlled by the sheriff, and in a number of counties, it’s an independent department or part of emergency management, DeBolt said. 

The board’s action would create a task force that would study the issue and come up with recommendations that could ultimately include a separate 911 communications department. 

The task force will take a “deep dive” into the operation to determine if it should be under the Sheriff’s Office or if there is a more efficient, economical way to do it with different leadership, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Marren said. 

DeBolt said the task force would consist of a number of stakeholders, including representatives of ambulance services, fire departments, and municipal police departments, for example. Its work will definitely move forward, but the county has not contacted all the stakeholders for that.  

"That is something we are committed to moving forward on as soon as staff capacity allows," DeBolt said.

Their work would involve frank discussion about its future, but DeBolt said this will be a deliberative process. 

"That’s not a decision we want to make rashly,” DeBolt said. 

The number one concern for the board is trying to protect the employees of the department from the working environment they’ve been subjected to, DeBolt said. 

Sheriff Kevin Henderson has not commented publicly on this issue nor the investigation, except to release a statement saying that he is not resigning the office, as he was asked to do. 

The office of the sheriff, because it is elected, has certain constitutional and statutory authorities and requirements, DeBolt said. 

“The emergency communications dispatch center is not one of those things that is required by constitution to be administered by the sheriff,” DeBolt said. “The thought process of the board, in order to try to protect those employees, we can make that vision within an independent department that doesn’t answer to the sheriff.” 

That said, he added the timing is right to have that discussion. Even if the sheriff was to leave office, the task force would remain in place, DeBolt said. 

Right now, however, answers are in the future. 

“Will that be the end result, a change?” Marren said. “I couldn’t even tell you that.” 

Canandaigua City Manager John Goodwin, whose role includes director of public safety for the city, said regardless of what did or didn’t happen with the sheriff and his office, there's always room to make improvements at the 911 call center. 

"And we’re looking forward to be a part of that to help continue to keep Ontario County a safe place to live, work and play by ensuring that when you call 911, the resources that you call for get there as quick as humanly possible," Goodwin said.