Crossville Wants More Time To Study Additional Dispatch Position

Cumberland County will have to hold off on hiring two additional 911 dispatchers.

The Crossville City Council declined to purchase one of those positions during Tuesday night’s monthly meeting.

Cumberland County Commissioners gave approval to hire two full-time dispatchers if the city agreed to fund one of those positions.

Councilwoman Pamela Harris said she wanted more time to research the fairness of splitting the cost.

“My concerns are not directly related to the need, but it’s the fairness of the split and what services are being provided to the county versus the city,” Harris said. “That’s why I believe further discussion and study is merited.”

Crossville-Cumberland County Central Communications Director Rod Shoap said a total of 60,000 calls same into the center during the first six months of 2018. The county had 37,804 of those calls and the city had 20,088.

“It’s not really how many we dispatched last year or how many we dispatched this year. It’s more position oriented,” Shoap said. “We would not want to have the Crossville police Department with only a dispatcher for 12 hours. We need to cover them for 24 hours.

Shoap said the city police department needs it’s own dispatcher because of the number of units available and out on patrol.

“Same with the sheriff’s office, EMS, and fire,” Shoap said. “We need at least four radio positions and two people on phone calls all of the time.”

The council voted to give the city attorney and city manager 30 to 45 days to discuss the issue with the Cumberland County Communications Center and county mayor.