Lufkin takes over dispatch duties for Diboll Police Department

Lufkin takes over dispatch duties for Diboll Police Department
Published: Feb. 2, 2023 at 5:41 PM CST|Updated: Feb. 2, 2023 at 9:53 PM CST

DIBOLL, Texas (KTRE) - Diboll has been looking to make a change in the way it handles its dispatch system since May, 2022, according to Diboll City Manager Jason Arnold.

“We have an obligation to make sure we’re spending all of our time, our money, tax payers’ money and our resources as efficiently and responsibly as we can,” Arnold said.

Now, those changes are live. When Diboll citizens call 911, they’ll be put in touch with a dispatcher in Lufkin.

Arnold said the city needed five dispatchers employed in Diboll, but on average they only received around one call an hour. According to Arnold, it just didn’t make sense to keep things the way they were.

“This is just one of those things that the way we’re doing it worked at one point in time, but it wasn’t working now, and it wasn’t going to work moving forward,” Arnold said.

Even though the dispatchers are employees of Lufkin, Arnold said Diboll won’t have to compete with Lufkin callers when they need help.

“They’re not going to be busy with Lufkin calls when our people call,” Arnold said. “They’re there for those switch boards for Diboll, and they’ll be waiting for Diboll, so they’ll take care of them when it’s time.”

To make the switch, Diboll is paying Lukin an annual payment of $120,000 to pay the dispatchers and to use their system, but Arnold said the change will still save Diboll money going forward with having to keep less staff on board and cutting out the need to upgrade their dispatch system.

“We’re looking at approximately $75,000 savings a year just from making this switch,” Arnold said.

Even though Diboll citizens will be making calls to people in Lufkin, Arnold said the city’s citizens won’t see any change in the time it takes for police to respond.