BISHOP, Texas — Residents of Bishop will no longer talk to dispatchers located in their city. Instead, someone in Corpus Christi will be on the other line, answering their call for help.
In December 2022, Bishop transitioned its Police, Fire and EMS dispatch services to Corpus Christi Police Department’s MetroCom.
MetroCom is a consolidated public safety dispatch center and the designated primary answering point for all of Nueces County.
It currently provides Police, Fire, and EMS call-taking and dispatch services for the City of Corpus Christi, the City of Driscoll, and all of Nueces County.
Prior to transferring to MetroCom, the department had four full-time and one part-time dispatcher.
"They basically had to man the phones 24/7, 365 days and that's hard to do with four personnel. So, what happened is we decided there's gotta be a better way to do this, "Edward Day, the Bishop Police Department's Chief of Police said.
Day added that the switch helps the city save money. They would spend around $110,000 a year for local dispatchers.
With MetroCom, they're estimated to spend around $65,000 a year.
He also adds that taxpayer money can go to anything from roads to improvements to infrastructure, to allocation to police services.
The department reallocated the money which was budgeted to overtime.
"Now we've been able to bring in additional police officers that are now able to be out there patrolling the streets for the citizens," Day said.
There has been some confusion and concerns from residents since the switch that the police department addressed in a Facebook post.
"Some of the concerns that have been brought to our attention were the concerns of calls not being answered, delays in response times, or not knowing what numbers to call," he said.
He clarified, no changes have been made to the emergency and non-emergency numbers.
The post stated that if you have an emergency requiring immediate Police, Fire, or EMS response please call 911.
It added, 911should be used for any call requiring EMS, Fire, and any in-progress law enforcement calls.
For Non-Emergency people can call 361-826-2900.
All calls to Bishop Police Department’s Non-Emergency Lines, which can be reached at 361-584-2443 and 361-584 - 2666, will be forwarded to MetroCom.
Bishop Police Department Administrative Telephone Line will be available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
