![]() There was one radio system in this center, and three WANG terminals for inputting information. A kitchen and bathroom were added behind the center. Around 1990, the dispatch center relocated within the building to the general location of the current center. Dispatchers still did their work with pen and paper and when they had time, information was typed into the WANG system for storage. During that time, the WANG computer system was installed. Eventually, dispatchers went to 12 hour shifts from 8 to 8. The dispatch center was located where the waiting room of the front business office is now located. Duties still included dispatching responsibilities along with tending to the prisoners. The dispatch center moved into the Courthouse Annex East in 1974. The NCIC machine was an old Western Union Teletype machine on a party line with 7 other departments, with dispatchers competing with the other departments to use it. ![]() There were two dispatchers on the day shift, one on the evening shift and one on the night shift, each working 8-hour shifts (8-4, 4-12, 12-8). The radio consisted of only two frequencies. Amongst other tasks they were required to perform, they managed and bonded out prisoners, including booking them into and out of lockup. Sheriff’s Office Dispatchers did all tasks with pencil and paper and they not only dispatched calls for service, but also took all general phone calls. At that time, 911 was not operational on the East Bank of Ascension Parish but was used on the West Bank. The other dispatch office, located at the main Sheriff’s office in Donaldsonville, dispatched calls for West Bank residents. They worked from a location that, at the time, was referred to as the Sheriff’s Office substation, but is the Gonzales City Hall building. In Gonzales, dispatchers employed by the Sheriff’s Office dispatched calls for service and fire incidents from East Bank residents for both the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Gonzales Police Department. In 1973, Ascension Parish emergency calls were dispatched from two locations.
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