Saratoga Moves Forward in Transfer of Dispatch Duties

APRIL 18, 2025 |

Photo – Dispatch logo – Bigfoot99 file photo

The town of Saratoga is moving forward with a plan to transfer emergency dispatching services to the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office.

In November of 2023, the Saratoga Police Department’s emergency dispatch center was suffering from a shortage of dispatchers. Then-Chief Mike Morris coordinated with the sheriff’s department, arranging for county dispatchers to oversee the town’s call center. Faced with a persistent shortage of qualified dispatcher candidates and a call center requiring costly upgrades, Chief Morris and Sheriff Bakken began investigating the possibility of permanently transferring Saratoga’s dispatching duties to the county.

Sheriff Bakken took it one step further, suggesting to the Board of Carbon County Commissioners in February of 2024 that his department should handle emergency dispatching for the entire county, including Saratoga and Rawlins.

While Saratoga was open to the proposal because of financial challenges, the Rawlins Police Department was unreceptive to the sheriff’s plan.

Last month, Sheriff Bakken presented a contract to the Saratoga town council, authorizing the county law enforcement agency to cover the town’s dispatching services for $125,087.62 a year.

The Saratoga town council unanimously voted to enter into the contract with the sheriff’s department.

The governing body was presented with the official combined dispatch contract earlier this month. Speaking at the April 18^th Saratoga town council meeting, Mayor Chuck Davis said both he and current Police Chief John Moore have concerns about the agreement.

Chief Moore explained the contract failed to include any provisions regarding dispatching services for the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department.

Mayor Davis said the contract is now in the hands of Town Attorney Kylie Waldrip. In the meantime, the town is waiting for a reply from Sheriff Bakken. The mayor said he expects to have the revised contract within the next month.

Later during the April 18^th meeting, Chief John Moore explained he is short of dispatchers at the moment. While his staff are away at the Academy, Chief Moore said the sheriff’s department is handling nighttime emergency calls for the town.

Chief Moore said the lack of dispatchers has given him a chance to test the county’s ability to interface with the Saratoga Police Department’s dispatching system. The police chief said the initial system setup was time-consuming, but everything now appears to be operating properly.

In addition to taking emergency calls, Chief Moore said the sheriff’s department is monitoring the security cameras at town hall and the Hobo Hot Pools. Mayor Davis said this experience has given the town an opportunity to see how the future combined dispatch center may operate.

If the contract moves forward as planned, the Saratoga Police Department and the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office are expected to be fully integrated by July 1^st of this year. The agreement would leave the Rawlins Police Department as the only remaining independent emergency dispatch call center in Carbon County.