Slaton transitions dispatch services to Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office

KCBD
By Kase Wilbanks
Published: Oct. 18, 2022 at 7:07 PM GMT-6

SLATON, Texas (KCBD) - It was the only city in the county to have its own dispatch but now the City of Slaton is completing its transfer of emergency dispatch services to the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office. The switch happened on October 1, after city commissioners voted to enter into the interlocal agreement in September.

“The City is in a financial struggle right now,” Mayor Clifton Shaw said. “It just made sense to get rid of dispatch and save that money when we’re already paying for it through our county taxes. It doesn’t affect the citizens of Slaton in an adverse way. When you make that call to 911, that call is immediately transferred to Slaton Police or to Fire.”

The decision came after an August commission meeting where Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe presented commissioners with information about the possible transition.

Shaw told KCBD that two jobs were cut and it’s estimated the City of Slaton will save around $150,000 per year.

“I hate to see a couple of people lose their jobs,” Shaw said. “I never want to cut jobs at all, but it was something that we felt like we really had to do.”

Some employees were retained to staff the Slaton Police Department during business hours and its non-emergency line.

“We will have people there during the day 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,” Shaw said. “After hours, it’s not that the police department is closed, after hours all that information goes to the sheriff’s department to be relayed back. The police department is not closed. The police department is still functioning just like they always did. It’s just it’ll be a different voice on the phone when you make a call, whether it’s an emergency or non-emergency call that you make to the police department.”

Shaw said it has been something new for citizens and there have been other issues to work through.

“We expected some glitches, some little things that would have to be cleaned up,” Shaw said. “Anytime you do something like that, there’s gonna be some little problems.”

Besides dispatch services, Shaw hopes the increased communication with the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office will provide better officer safety.

“It’s really hard to get police officers in small towns,” Shaw said. “We’re not the only ones. Several departments have issues with police departments and with us having an extra officer responding to these calls for backup, it’s a godsend.”