281-463-6666

Dispatch Responsibilities:
The responsibility of the Commications Dvision is to assist the deputies to help protect and serve the public.  The role of a Tele-Communication Officer (TCO) is to assist the public by receiving calls, complaints and getting a brief description of the problem so a deputy can be sent to the location.   The T.C.O. is responsible for evaluating the information received to determine what type of call as well as to what priority should be assigned to a call, such as life or death compared to a suspicious person call.  The T.C.O. must  ascertain if medical personnel is required as well and to ask for the patient information to determine the extent of the injuries.  The T.C.O. is also responsible to dispatch the calls to the closest available unit to ensure a timely response to every call and to ensure proper backup for safety to both the deputies and the general public.  As well as receiving and processing calls to be dispatched the T.C.O. is required to make computer checks such as vehicle registrations, drivers license and suspect checks to determine if subjects are wanted or stolen.  If a subject or article shows to be stolen, wanted or missing it is the T.C.O. That is responsible for confirming the validity of the entry as well as to contact the agency that entered the item to inform them that it has been recovered.   The T.C.O. is responsible to make all the entry of items missing or stolen in pct 5 jurisdiction and keeping those records up to date.  Among the many responsibilities the communication division has the most important is the safety  of their deputies and the public.
 
Computer Aided Dispatch:

The communication division is also responsible for cad - computer aided dispatch.  It aides the T.C.O. by searching for addresses and keeping up with all calls for service in harris county.  The public can request that a search be done on cad under the open records act.  These searches can be helpful to citizens who are interested in a certain area of town.  For example, future home owners or other looking to move into an area.  (The county charges for cad searches and open records act, prices vary and they will be explained at the time of the request.)

C.A.D. Request Form:
Click here to download C.A.D. Request Search PDF.
CAD searches can be done by keymap grid or by street.

Tips to help you and dispatchers:
Reporting suspicious persons:
When reporting suspicious persons try to give a description of the person from head to feet.  starting with hat, hair, glasses, facial hair, race, color of clothing and direction of travel. The more information available the better chance of the subject being located.

Reporting suspicious vehicles:
When reporting suspicious vehicles try to give a description of color, year, make, body and license number, but never put yourself in danger to obtain this information.

Requesting phone numbers:
When you want to call to request a city or county phone number to various city or county agencies you should call the city or county operator so that the phone call doesn't tie up an emergency line.  This will help ensure a citizen in need of emergency assistance will be able to get through to a Tele-Communications Officer.

CITY OPERATOR COUNTY OPERATOR 713-247-1000 713-755-5000

ALWAYS CALL 9-1-1 IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY! NONEMERGENCY DISPATCH NUMBER 281-463-6666