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Porter County adopts 911 call-handling SOP for Chesterton and Porter, activation set for April 1
Summary
Commissioners approved a standard operating procedure to bring Chesterton and Porter 911 call handling into the county dispatch center, citing reduced delays and improved legislative compliance; activation is planned for April 1.
The Porter County Board of Commissioners voted March 10 to adopt a standard operating procedure (SOP) to bring Chesterton and Porter 911 call handling into the county's dispatch center, with activation set for April 1.
Debbie Gun, speaking for county 911, told commissioners the change will align Chesterton and Porter with other municipalities already dispatched by the county, reduce redundant call transfers and improve compliance with state-mandated call-handling expectations. She said the procedural change will reduce delays for callers and streamline CAD (computer-aided dispatch) entries and responder notifications.
"This will bring us into compliance with the legislation...and significantly decrease that delay associated with that," Debbie Gun said, describing the call-transfer redundancy that the SOP is intended to eliminate.
Commissioners discussed autonomy for towns' administrative calls and emphasized that the SOP applies only to emergency 911 calls; routine administrative calls to local police departments would remain separate. The board approved the SOP and confirmed that county dispatch will treat Chesterton and Porter like other towns in Porter County for 911 call-taking and initial dispatching.
The motion included an activation date of April 1; county staff said they will meet with town officials to discuss the operational change in advance of activation.
