Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced the support of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth for the Suffolk311 system.
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said: “In a world with less and less personal service and fewer human voices on the other end of our phones, 311 assistance provides the optimal in customer service to residents. I know that the people of Suffolk County will be well-served by County Executive Steve Bellone’s latest initiative and will find it to be a helpful tool. The Town of North Hempstead’s 311 call system, established nearly 15 years ago, has serviced almost 2 million callers providing information and connections for every day service requests, as well as being that voice of comfort during emergency situations.”
The Town of North Hempstead recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Town’s 311 Call Center, which has answered nearly 1.4 million constituent calls. The Call Center was created to serve as the first point of contact in connecting constituents with Town services and resources. Originally modeled after a system that was in place in the city of Baltimore, it was implemented as a way of making “One Call to Town Hall” a reality for Town residents. Those calling the 311 Call Center are connected with staff members who are able to answer questions about potholes, upcoming Town events, tree removal and hundreds of other concerns, as well as connecting callers with different Town departments. Each year, the Town receives an average of more than 170,000 calls.
311 was originally developed as a non-emergency alternative for police departments to reduce congestion on 911 call centers. Suffolk311 will improve public safety by reducing the burden on 911 county emergency call centers that receive tens of thousands of non-emergency calls each year. This will allow emergency call centers to be better positioned to respond to true emergencies.
To date, a bipartisan group of national, state, and local government officials, including business advocacy organizations and civic leaders offered praise for the Suffolk311 including:
- United States Senator Charles Schumer
- Michael Bloomberg, Former New York City Mayor
- Martin O’Malley, Former Governor and Mayor of Baltimore
- Michael Balboni, Former New York State Deputy Secretary for Public Safety
- Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman
- Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim
- Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman
- New York City Councilman Justin Brannan
- State Senator Anna Kaplan
- State Senator Jim Gaughran
- Kevin Law, President and CEO of the Long Island Association
- Kyle Strober, Executive Director of Association for a Better Long Island
- Dr. Jim Malatras, President of the Rockefeller Institute of Government
###