FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - A northern Arizona public safety communication center has closed its doors after the department reported declining recruitment numbers.
The Arizona Daily Sun reports that the state Department of Public Safety made the decision in January despite some dispatcher and former employee opposition.
Officials say the center's last day of transmission was in October.
Department officials say 14 people employed by the Flagstaff center left, either retiring early or finding new jobs in the community or in the agency while the 29 possible full-time positions with benefits were cut.
Officials say the department installed four new dispatch consoles in Phoenix to replace the work done by the northern center.
Authorities say calls to police on highways in northern Arizona are currently being serviced out of dispatch centers in Tucson and Phoenix.
