The reaction so far has been lukewarm, Harris said. The main complaint is that dispatch centers would give up local control to a consolidated center. But, he added, the reasoning behind the audit is to come up with ideas to improve service. The Torrance County dispatch center is located in McIntosh and handles calls from every law enforcement and emergency-services agency in the county. Harris said Torrance County is one of the few counties in the state that has consolidated services on the county level.
Most counties have several dispatch centers that handle calls separately for each municipality.
Towns within Torrance County pay to be part of the county 911 service, and the county takes on the cost of staffing the center. Residents pay for 911 service through their monthly telephone bills, Harris said. The state collects 51 cents each month from each phone customer. About half of that money is earmarked for equipment and the other half is for network needs, such as computer and telephone lines, Harris said. The governmental agency that controls a dispatch center pays for staffing, he said.