Commissioners Vote To Consolidate With Macon E-911

By Echo Menges

On Monday morning, July 23, 2012, Knox County Eastern and Western District Commissioners, Terry “Red” Callahan and Terry Marble, voted to consolidate with Macon County’s Enhanced 911 System pending contract approval.
One person attended the meeting opposed to the consolidation, Knox County Sheriff Mike Kite, who stated that he didn’t want to see dispatch jobs taken out of the county. He also informed the commissioners that he was told by the Sheriff and Police Chief in Macon that there were “communication problems” between the law enforcement agencies and Macon’s E-911 dispatch center.

The commissioners stated that the benefits far outweighed the negative effects of loosing jobs in the county and said their decision was based on the input gathered from their constituents.

“Having the ability to find someone (in distress) out in a field somewhere with this new system is important,” said Marble. “If this new system saves one life by being able to locate them it will all be worth it.”

“Ninety-nine percent of  the people I’ve talked to are in favor of it,” said Terry “Red” Callahan. “We can’t afford to do it on our own so we’re going with Macon because they have the best service in our area.”

“We look forward to working with Knox County to provide quality 911 service,” said Macon County E-911 Director Mike Kindle.