New Haven committee forwards $205,467 state grant request to full board to upgrade public-safety radio system

The New Haven Public Safety Committee voted to forward a resolution to the full City Board authorizing the mayor to apply for up to $205,467.68 in state grant funding to update fixed public-safety communications equipment for the city’s police and fire departments.

Gary Hogan, who identified himself during roll call, told the committee the grant is a state matching award funded by 9-1-1 taxes and is issued annually. He said the city has already budgeted roughly $3 million in capital funds this year to cover its share and other upgrades, and that the state portion would add about $205,467.68 toward replacing transmitters, receivers, voters, antennas and microwave links.

“This will essentially be an additional $205,000 to keep building out the system and replacing a lot of equipment that is coming up on its age,” Hogan said, describing the upgrades as a move toward digital transmissions and greater redundancy across more than a dozen city sites. He added that city staff have already replaced aging microwave links in prior work and plan to place additional dispatch consoles in emergency operations centers.

Committee members pressed staff on training and timelines. Hogan said most of the hardware being purchased requires no special training; the new console system is the primary item that will need dedicated user training and the city has already begun receiving parts. On the possibility of incorporating artificial intelligence, Hogan said he was “open to AI as a relief, not to eliminate staffing,” and described plans to use automation primarily to triage non-emergency calls to other city services.

Hogan also told the committee the communications center handled heavy call volumes last year — roughly 160,000 911 calls plus about 471,000 additional phone calls — and that the center operates with about 33 employees, citing persistent staffing shortages.

A committee member said the upgrades were timely and supported the city’s emergency response capacity. “This is a great thing…what they had is outdated now,” the member said, adding support for the motion to move the item to the full board.

After closing the public-comment period, the committee approved a motion to send the resolution to the full board; members indicated their support verbally and the chair declared the motion carried. The meeting then adjourned.

The resolution authorizes the mayor to submit the application to the State of Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Division of Statewide Emergency Telecommunications, and to execute contracts and documents if the funds are offered. The resolution will next appear on the full City Board agenda for final action.