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I was all for Selma going to the county police 911 dispatch center. Unfortunately, people get displaced from their jobs when that happens. That is part of life. The town needed to cut budgets and find an efficient method of delivering the same service. A 911 dispatch was entirely appropriate. Now, two dispatchers that were displaced have come back to Selma as police officers. They already know departmental procedure, the territory, the communications system, and their coworkers. That works. As long as we have openings in the police department and they are qualified, then welcome back. It appears that both criteria are well met. From the WMPM news page:

Former Selma Police Dispatchers Return As Sworn Officers - Two Selma police dispatchers, who lost their jobs when the Johnston County 911 Center took over communications from Selma Police on January 1, returned to work Wednesday as sworn police officers. Billy Thomas, who had been a police dispatcher in Selma for 4 years, and Don Wilson, who had worked for 18 months, enrolled in the 16-week Basic Law Enforcement Training Academy at Johnston Community College . They recently finished over 600 hours of training. Even after losing their communications jobs, they both said they wanted to remain in Selma and continue their law enforcement career. Wilson said he looks forward to his new job. “I’ll get to deal with people in person, rather than just on the telephone.” Selma Police Chief Charles Bowen said Thomas and Wilson should be a good fit. “We already had knowledge about how they would be to work with.”