Orange City & Oak Hill Contract with Sheriff's Office for Dispatch

Date Added: August 24, 2002 2:15 pm

Orange City & Oak Hill Contract with Sheriff's Office for Dispatch

Finding it a more economical way to provide services, Orange City and Oak Hill have decided to contract with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office to dispatch law enforcement calls to both cities. The Sheriff’s Office will begin providing dispatching services to both cities on Oct. 1. The two cities have approved the transition, and the Volusia County Council finalized the deals Thursday morning by unanimously approving the service contracts. “I am very much in favor of this,” said County Council member Big John. “As a matter of fact, if the Sheriff could do this all over the county, it would be wonderful.” 

Under the administration of Sheriff Ben Johnson, the Sheriff’s Office has supported the consolidation of dispatch services as a way to save tax dollars and improve communications during public safety calls that often cross jurisdictional boundaries and involve responses from multiple agencies. Orange City and Oak Hill now join Lake Helen and county Beach Services in receiving their law enforcement dispatching services from the Sheriff’s Office. 

The contracts approved Thursday are for three years. For citizens, the switchover will be seamless. Emergency 911 calls will be answered 24-hours-a-day by telecommunicators at the Sheriff’s Office’s Communications Center in Daytona Beach. The telecommunicators will then dispatch city police officers to the calls for service. Pursuant to a formula based on the number of calls for service generated by each city, Orange City will be charged $74,996 annually and Oak Hill will pay $12,405 annually for the service. With its dispatching role expanding, the Sheriff’s Office plans to dedicate the revenue to improvement projects at its Communications Center.