diff --git a/drb-c2-core/app/config.py b/drb-c2-core/app/config.py
index 13d251a..d4e0269 100644
--- a/drb-c2-core/app/config.py
+++ b/drb-c2-core/app/config.py
@@ -51,7 +51,14 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     unit_continuity_max_idle_minutes: int = 20  # unit-continuity path: skip if incident idle > this
     recorrelation_scan_minutes: int = 60      # re-examine orphaned calls ended within this window
     tg_fast_path_idle_minutes: int = 90       # fast path: max minutes since incident last updated
-    tg_dispatch_thin_idle_minutes: int = 10   # dispatch channels only: thin calls only attach to incidents idle < this many minutes
+    # Dispatch channels only: tier-2 thin calls attach to a lone candidate idle < this.
+    # Was 10, which is long enough for the channel to have moved on to something else:
+    # on 2026-08-16 a "72 at Holland Station" incident absorbed a Grand Central train
+    # meet 9.6 min later, and a status check absorbed a records lookup at 9.7 min.
+    # Across that dump every correct thin attach was <= 3.4 min idle and every wrong
+    # one was >= 8.2, so 5 separates them with room on both sides. Genuine
+    # back-and-forth is handled by the 30-second tier-1 path above this.
+    tg_dispatch_thin_idle_minutes: int = 5
 
     # Vocabulary learning
     vocabulary_induction_interval_hours: int = 24   # how often the induction loop runs
diff --git a/drb-c2-core/tests/test_correlator_gate.py b/drb-c2-core/tests/test_correlator_gate.py
index 2736d51..e001e5d 100644
--- a/drb-c2-core/tests/test_correlator_gate.py
+++ b/drb-c2-core/tests/test_correlator_gate.py
@@ -146,6 +146,24 @@ def test_thin_call_links_to_the_active_incident_on_its_talkgroup():
     assert decision["corr_debug"]["corr_path"] == "fast/thin"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("idle_min", [1.0, 3.4, 4.9])
+def test_thin_call_still_attaches_inside_the_tier2_window(idle_min):
+    inc = _incident(idle_min)
+    assert _run_decision(_ctx(all_active=[inc], recent=[inc]))["action"] == "link"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("idle_min", [5.1, 8.2, 9.7])
+def test_thin_call_does_not_attach_after_the_channel_has_moved_on(idle_min):
+    """
+    A '10-4' arriving many minutes into silence is new traffic, not a reply. The
+    old 10-minute window let one incident swallow an unrelated event 9.6 min
+    later; being the *only* candidate is not evidence, it just means the channel
+    was quiet, which is when the guess is weakest.
+    """
+    inc = _incident(idle_min)
+    assert _run_decision(_ctx(all_active=[inc], recent=[inc]))["action"] == "orphan"
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_thin_link_does_not_refresh_updated_at():
     with patch("app.internal.incident_correlator.fstore") as mock_fstore: