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Chesterton council to consolidate dispatch with Porter County, sets Oct. 1 transition target
Summary
Citing operational problems and a new county SOP centralizing 911 call control, the council authorized staff to negotiate consolidation terms with Porter County and set an expected completion date no later than Oct. 1, while promising meetings with affected dispatch staff.
The Chesterton Town Council authorized town staff to begin negotiating terms to consolidate local dispatch operations with Porter County and set a transition deadline of no later than Oct. 1, citing concerns about a recently adopted Porter County 911 standard operating procedure.
Council President Collins delivered a prepared statement saying the county's new SOP "fundamentally changes how 911 calls are handled" and creates operational fragmentation by keeping 911 callers on the county line while simultaneously dispatching officers. She said the town offered an alternative it believed would preserve local coordination but the county did not adopt it.
"This council will not wait for more failures in a system to prove what we already know," Collins said, adding that the town has already observed calls handled outside the SOP's intended process, incomplete location details and disconnected 911 calls requiring local dispatchers to intervene. She said those problems introduce risk and that the council would not wait for an incident to compel action.
Collins said the town will meet individually with its dispatchers to discuss the transition and will propose benefits for full-time dispatchers who remain through the consolidation period. The council voted to authorize Connor, Tim and Cisco to begin negotiating with Porter County for terms that prioritize officer and resident safety and ensure proper safeguards.
Council members expressed regret at the outcome but emphasized public-safety priorities. One council member said the decision felt "compelling" because the town had been pushed to yield by external changes in practice.
The council's authorization directs staff to pursue a deliberate, documented transition and to return with negotiated terms for council review. The exact operational, staffing and financial terms will be subject to negotiation and further council action.
