NORWICH – The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office is exploring upgrades to its communications system used to transfer information between the public safety building to other county government buildings in the Norwich area.

According to Chenango County Sheriff Ernest Cutting, 911 call times are being affected by slow-moving data between the Sheriff’s Office on Upper Ravine Road in Norwich to other government buildings within the City of Norwich.

The Sheriff says upgrades would allow quicker communication between emergency personnel at the sheriff’s office, located in the Town of Norwich, and the county’s fire training center, the backup emergency management center, and the county office building which are all located within the City of Norwich.

“The problem we have is that it’s taking so long for downloads,” Cutting told members of the county’s Safety and Rules Committee on Wednesday. It can take up to 30 minutes to transfer larger files from the Sheriff’s Office to other emergency management personnel in different locations, he added. And in an emergency situation, quick communication is critical