(Adel, Iowa) – The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office will begin to take over dispatching duties for the City of Perry’s emergency services, beginning in June. According to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office, there will be two phases to the transition. On June 22, 2023 at 10-a.m., Dallas County will begin to Dispatch the Perry Fire Department and First Responders. Effective June 29th, 2023 at 10-a.m., the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office will take over all dispatching duties for the Perry Police Department.

Dallas County already dispatches Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the Perry area. Emergency Number-anywhere in Dallas County will remain as 911. Non-Emergency numbers-Perry Police Department Monday-Friday 7:00AM to 3:00PM 515-465-4636. Dallas County Dispatch 24 hours a day 515-993-4567

Monday through Friday from 7AM-3PM Perry will have personnel answering their non-emergency phones, at their police department. After business hours, their non-emergency numbers will transfer to Dallas County Dispatch. The public will not see any changes to their services.

All 911 calls will go straight to Dallas County Dispatch no matter the day or time.

Authorities say combining dispatch services will increase efficiency and reduce the burden to tax payers by eliminating the duplication of services. “It will help with officer safety by reducing the number of radio channels that need to be scanned and officers will be able to hear real time situations easier. It will increase and promote cooperation between all agencies in Dallas County that are dispatched through Dallas County Dispatch.”

Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante says “We are all on the same team in Dallas County and it makes total sense to me that we are dispatched together. This will save money for all Dallas County taxpayers because we will not have to upgrade and maintain two different dispatch centers. We will be able to share more information between our departments by logging radio traffic into one shareable software system instead of maintaining 2 separate software programs. This is a perfect example of government working together to make things better for their community and I am glad to be partnering with the City of Perry on this.”

And, Perry Police Chief Vaughn says “The Perry Police Department’s Communications Center has had a long history that has been staffed by hardworking dedicated employees for over 40 years. It’s been an honor to serve with some incredible dispatchers over the years. It has been a difficult decision to transfer those services. However, I think it will help streamline communications and the exchange of information between all first responder agencies in Dallas County.”