Onondaga County 911: Dispatch Volume, Response Times, and Public Safety Statistics

By Matt Keenan, Senior Reporter. Published 2026-05-06. Last updated 2026-05-06.

The Onondaga County 911 center, located at 3911 Court Street in Syracuse, handled 743,891 calls in 2024, of which 38 percent generated a police response, 31 percent EMS, 11 percent fire, and 20 percent were non-dispatch (information-only or transferred). The center is staffed 24/7 with 87 telecommunicators and operates the Onondaga County P25 trunked radio system that serves 33 towns, 15 villages, the City of Syracuse, the Sheriff Office, NYSP Troop D, AMR ambulance, and 30+ fire departments. Average answer time in 2024 was 7.2 seconds, well within the NENA standard of 90 percent of calls answered within 15 seconds.

The Center and Its Director

The Onondaga County 911 center, formally the Onondaga County Department of Emergency
Communications, is co-located with the County Department of Emergency Management at 3911
Court Street. The center is led by Director William Bleyle, who has held the post since
2019. The center operates 24/7 with 87 telecommunicators across rotating shifts, plus 12
supervisor positions and 14 administrative and IT staff. Annual operating budget for the
center in 2024 was $14.2 million per the Onondaga County 2024 budget book.

2024 Call Volume Breakdown

Per the Onondaga County 911 2024 annual data release: total calls 743,891. Of those: 280,679
police-dispatched (38 percent); 230,606 EMS-dispatched (31 percent); 81,828 fire-dispatched
(11 percent); 148,778 non-dispatch (20 percent, includes information requests, transfers to
other agencies, abandoned calls). Of the police-dispatched calls, 47 percent went to
Syracuse PD, 28 percent to Onondaga County Sheriff, 15 percent to NYSP Troop D, and 10
percent to suburban village PDs. Of the EMS calls, 96 percent went to AMR (the contracted
provider) and 4 percent to volunteer or specialty providers.

Call Volume by Hour of Day

Per the 911 2024 hourly breakdown: peak hour Saturday 11 PM to midnight, average 142
calls per hour. Lowest hour Tuesday 4 AM to 5 AM, average 28 calls per hour. The peak hour
on Saturday is driven by a combination of late-evening commercial activity, alcohol-related
incidents, and weekend social events. The Tuesday early-morning low reflects the typical
quiet pattern of mid-week early hours.

Geographic Distribution

Per ACS 5-year 2018 to 2022 estimates, the City of Syracuse houses 31 percent of Onondaga
County’s population (146,396 of 469,043), but generates 47 percent of all 911 calls (349,629
of 743,891). The suburban towns (53 percent of population) generate 47 percent of calls. The
rural southern towns (16 percent of population) generate 6 percent of calls. The pattern
reflects higher dispatch density in urban core areas plus the higher rate of property crime,
domestic disputes, and EMS calls in dense neighborhoods.

Average Answer Time and NENA Compliance

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) sets the standard for 911 center
performance. NENA’s primary standard: 90 percent of calls answered within 15 seconds, 95
percent within 20 seconds. The Onondaga 911 center’s 2024 performance: average answer time
7.2 seconds; 92 percent of calls answered within 15 seconds; 96 percent within 20 seconds.
The center exceeds NENA standards. The center’s 2024 performance is the best in the past 5
years, attributable to recent staffing adds and the deployment of the new VESTA next-gen 911
phone system in 2023.

Average Call-to-Dispatch Time

The “call-to-dispatch” metric measures the time from call answered to first responder
dispatched. NENA standard: 90 seconds median for emergency calls. Onondaga 911 2024
performance: 47 seconds median for emergency calls (well under NENA standard). For confirmed
structure fires specifically: 39 seconds median. For motor vehicle crashes with injury: 52
seconds median. For police priority-1 calls: 41 seconds median. The center’s call-to-
dispatch performance is among the top 10 percent of US 911 centers per NENA benchmarking
data.

Next-Generation 911 (NG911) Migration

The Onondaga 911 center migrated to NG911 (Next Generation 911) in 2022 to 2023, replacing
the legacy ALI/ANI database with a session-initiated protocol (SIP) phone system that
supports text-to-911, image and video uploads, and improved location services. The
$4.8 million upgrade was funded by the New York State 911 Surcharge fund. Text-to-911 was
activated in Onondaga County in March 2024 and accounts for roughly 0.3 percent of all 911
calls (lower than national average of 1.5 percent because of awareness gap).

911 Center Staffing

The Onondaga 911 center has 87 telecommunicator positions plus 12 supervisor positions.
Per the County 2024 staffing report, the center carries roughly 8 vacancies at any given
time (a 9 percent vacancy rate). The center’s recruitment is constrained by the highly
selective hiring process: typical applicants must pass a multi-stage exam, psychological
screening, background check, and 12-week academy plus 6 months of on-the-job training before
becoming a fully certified telecommunicator. Annual attrition is 12 to 15 percent due to
job stress and shift work.

How the Public Can Improve 911 Performance

The Onondaga 911 center’s published guidance for callers: 1) call from the location of the
emergency when possible (location services work better); 2) speak slowly and clearly; 3)
provide the address before describing the emergency (in case the call is dropped); 4) stay
on the line until the dispatcher releases you; 5) do not call 911 to report a power outage,
ask about road conditions, or for non-emergency information. The center’s non-emergency line
for these calls is 315-435-3044.

Frequently Asked Questions

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