(Photo by Catherine Sasso)

NORWICH – The Chenango County Sheriffs Office held the 28th annual awards ceremony at the Northeast Classic Car Museum last Friday.

The ceremony opened with remarks from Sheriff Ernest R. Cutting, who discussed increase in 911 calls and improvements to technology within the sheriff's office.

"In 2019 our 911 center staff worked short handed. In 2019 the dispatcher total 90,841 emergency and non-emergency calls for service. Of those calls 34,605 resulted in law enforcement response and 9,520 relayed to fire or EMS calls for help. All of these numbers reflect increases from 2018," said Cutting.

Among the technology improvements is automatic vehicle locators, which improves the safety of the officer and overall coordination between police departments.

"It allows us the ability to track our entire fleet in real time. This technology was instituted to protect officers in the felid who might not be able to respond on their radios. It allows the dispatchers to visually see where the county and state police are in real time on the screen," said Cutting.

Law enforcement, correction officers, and public safety dispatchers received awards in several categories. Including most improved employee, certificates of recognition, and perseverance awards.