Breckenridge dispatcher honored for keeping suspect on the phone during homicide response

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)- When emergencies strike, the community often sees paramedics, fire crews, and officers heroically responding on the frontlines. But behind the scenes, there’s another critical role working tirelessly to cut through the chaos and get them where they’re needed most: Dispatch.

Breckenridge Police Chief Blake Johnson stated that dispatchers play a crucial role in their operations, which involves more than merely answering phone calls.

“Not only do they give us information that can help us for safety, but they can also help us in responding and our ability to rapidly put out our employees so our officers can go out and disseminate to more actively work any kind of crime scene we have,” Johnson said. “We all kind of look at ourselves as the hands and feet out in the community, the problem is we’re not the ears.”

Breckenridge Dispatcher Katey Turnbull was recently honored by the City Council for her outstanding response to a homicide on November 22, 2024, when something very unexpected occurred.

That night, Turnbull was working alone in dispatch when a homicide was reported in the 700 block of South Stoker. She swiflty answered the call and dispatched officers to the scene. While managing all the incoming calls and dispatching, she received an unexpected call from the suspect in the homicide.

“Katey took that phone call and ended up staying with him on the phone for an extensive amount of time, assisting law enforcement. In this case, our neighboring county ended up coming out. With her assistance, she was able to keep him on the phone to get a location and was able to keep him on the phone until officers were able to get there,” Johnson explained during the January 7 City Commissioners meeting.

Dispatch centers in smaller communities often handle a larger workload with fewer staff members. The Breckenridge Police Department dispatch has a total of four members, with one to two working on each shift. BPD Dispatch Supervisor Emily Grenko is proud of Turnbulls’ performance while managing calls.

“She took a very difficult call that we don’t handle very often… She had to wing it, and she did a good job with it,” Grenko said. “It’s a lot of multitasking. It’s writing down everything you’re hearing. Sometimes you have to put one on hold to talk to the other, and sometimes you talk with them at the same time.”

Turnbull was honored with the Distinguished Service Award for going above and beyond the call of duty.