NEW YORK — More than $200 million collected from cell phone users for upgrades to the 911 system has been diverted in the past two years to plug state budget holes, keep campaign promises and, in at least one case, buy police uniforms, an Associated Press analysis has found.

Dispatchers say the diversion of money comes at the expense of improvements that would help crime and accident victims reach responders. Someone who has been kidnapped, for instance, may not be able to talk but might be able to quietly send a text message or a photo.

Cell phone subscribers in nearly every state pay anywhere from 20 cents to $1.50 a month for what is described in their bills as 911 improvements. In some states, the AP analysis found, less than half that money is actually going to help emergency dispatchers keep pace with the features of smart phones.

As states hammered by the recession look around for ways to balance their budgets, the 911 money is tempting:

• In Hawai'i, the state collects 66 cents a month on each cell phone bill. Gov. Linda Lingle and the board that oversees the fund asked the Legislature to reduce the fee because a previous round of upgrades, which gave 911 centers the ability to locate wireless callers, is nearly complete. The Legislature rejected the request, opting instead to keep the fee and take $16 million out of the fund for general expenses, leaving it with about $9 million.

• In New York, only 19 cents of the $1.20 a month the state collects from each subscriber goes to emergency calling services. The rest pays for uniforms for the state police, a wireless network for emergency responders and the state's general expenditures.

• In Arizona, lawmakers funneled $25 million from the state's emergency telecommunications fund, halving its size, and cut its monthly 911 cell phone fee to 20 cents. As a result, the fund could be out of money within three years.

"The issue of (fund) raiding has been a trickle for a few years, and now we're seeing the faucet on full blast," said Dane Snowden, vice president of external and state affairs at wireless industry group CTIA.

A highly publicized round of call center upgrades is nearly complete, allowing 911 dispatchers to automatically pinpoint cell phone callers. But emergency officials say that's no reason to raid funds set aside for future upgrades and maintenance. After all, voice calls are just one of many things phones can do.

Dispatchers would like the capability to receive photos, videos and text messages from cell phone users in danger. Photos shot by witnesses with camera phones already have proved useful in catching bank robbers and flashers, for instance. Getting those photos to 911 centers — which could get them to police faster — could help solve crimes.

In several cases in recent years, kidnapping victims have summoned help by surreptitiously sending text messages. But because they can't send directly to 911, they've had to use intermediaries.

Upgrading call centers to handle text and video messaging would require new computer systems, communications lines and training, costing tens of millions of dollars per state, according to the National Emergency Number Association.

A complete accounting of how 911 money is spent in all states is not available, partly because most of the money dispatch centers get is funneled to them by counties. The Federal Communications Commission has been collecting information from the states at the request of Congress, and is expected to report its findings soon.