The State Police approached Rockland and asked them if they would be interested in dispatching SP Haverstraw. Obviously they felt like it was in everyone's best interest to do so, so let's be careful not armchair QB their decision. :wink:
Besides, 44-Control is much better equipped to handle those duties than a barracks dozens of miles away in another county. For starters, let's remember that SP Haverstraw essentially covers only the Parkway, 90% of which is within Rockland's borders. Secondly, the overwhelming majority of 911 calls for incidents on the Parkway are coming in via cellular 911, which go directly to 44-Control. And lastly, the fact that SP Haverstraw has basically been unofficially dispatched by 44-Control for years. Anyone who listens to 154.725 knows how many times a day you hear "Headquarters to any SP unit on the Parkway northbound near Exit 12...." and whatnot.
The Thruway Authority is an entirely different animal from the NYSP, you can't even begin to compare the two. The Thruway's linked, repeated radio system is a behemoth compared to the hodge podge of full-duplex VHF frequencies the SP uses. They can get away with sitting in Albany dispatching for the entire system, because they've done it that way for decades, and there are only four frequency/PL combos that cover the entire system from Buffalo to Yonkers. Every unit within a Division is on the same repeater, they can all actually hear each other transmitting, and their radios have near full coverage along the entire system.
Radio coverage along the entire Parkway is not that great, considering the SP's transmitter for 155.535 is on Jackie Jones Mtn on the Haverstraw/Stony Point border. Once they move to Rockland's 700 MHz system, they will have total coverage from Bear Mountain all the way down to Fort Lee...and that's portable coverage.
It actually makes perfect sense, and is long overdue.