DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. — DeKalb County Sheriff's Office says they are merging communications with 911 starting today. The sheriff's office goes on to say that this has been in the works for almost two years and this merge will benefit not only first responders but all the people of DeKalb County, from its citizens, to people just passing through who may need emergency personnel.
911 and DeKalb County Sheriff's Office now hope that this will cut out the delay time that they currently deal with and speed up response time in critical and life threating situations. A press release from the sheriff's office says that this has not been an easy process by any means. and a lot of leg work has gone into this from the 911 Director, 911 Board, County Administrator, DeKalb County Commissioners and Commission president Ricky Harcrow. "There are simply too many people to list who have gone above and beyond to gather data, run scenarios and express the benefits of this new County Dispatch Program," the sheriff's office said.
"I wish I could say it will be a completely smooth transition, but no doubt their will be some bumps in the road to smooth out, but in time it will be right where it needs to be," DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said. Welden goes on to say that "The DeKalb County EMA, DeKalb County Commission and our office have been able to acquire lots of new communication equipment from grant funds and will now only add to the positions of the new DeKalb County / 911 Dispatch Program."
911 and DeKalb County Sheriff's Office hope this merge is a start of a 'new era' of dispatch. "I really look forward to working with 911 Director Sabrina Dobbins and putting DeKalb County Communication where it belongs and that's at its BEST," DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden says.
