NY 911 Calls No Longer Bouncing to NJ  

Residents who live along the Hudson River in New York City, New York, their 911 calls have often been picked up by dispatchers in New Jersey. However, the NYPD worked alongside City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal to determine the root of the problem. They teamed up with Verizon to ensure that their cell towers automatically divert 911 calls placed in New York City to the proper dispatchers. The new system went into effect in January, and has been working well thus far. According to DNA Info, “Under the new system, Verizon callers who dial 911 along Manhattan’s West Side should no longer see their calls routed to a cellphone tower in Bergen County, N.J. and then sent to one of 24 emergency call centers there, as had been the case previously, according to officials from the wireless provider and police in New York and New Jersey.” Now, the calls will not go to New Jersey operators, but hit the New Jersey tower and re-route to the New York City operators. Last fall, there was an average of 20 calls a day bouncing to Bergen County 911 operators.