A revived management board for the Chesterton/Porter joint police dispatch center will soon meet to review the performance of their dispatchers during the June 18 police-involved shooting outside the Hilton Garden Inn in Chesterton.
Porter’s Town Council took a significant step Tuesday toward that meeting by approving an ordinance that re-established the rules for what is officially known as the Duneland Emergency Regional Dispatch Center Operations Center Management Board.
Porter Town Council President Laura Madigan, D-Ward 1, said she believes that the board has never met since the two towns established their joint dispatch center in 2014.
Madigan told The Post-Tribune that discussions will stick to the police-involved shooting and review the inter-agency performance.
What will not be on the agenda is any discussion about Chesterton and Porter consolidating its dispatch center with the Porter County E-911 system, Madigan said.
Chesterton Police Lt. David Virijevich and Officer Nolan Mancera initially responded on the morning of June 18 to the report of a suspicious person at the hotel. The situation quickly disintegrated as Joseph Gerber, 45, who had an outstanding felony warrant, fired first and wounded Mancera. Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann ruled that Virijevich and Mancera were justified in returning fire and wounding Gerber, who died at the scene when he shot himself in the head.
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Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs, on the morning of the June 18 shootout, suggested it was time that Chesterton and Porter Police Dispatch consider joining the Porter County E-911 system.
Biggs and E-911 Director Debbie Gunn later told The Post-Tribune that with the current system, it took nearly 5 minutes for the Chesterton/Porter Police dispatch call for the ambulance.
Chesterton and Porter dispute the county’s conclusion, saying any delay was due to an E-911 dispatcher putting the Chesterton/Porter Police dispatcher on hold while answering another call. As it turned out, another E-911 dispatcher had heard the officer on the radio talking about how he was shot and immediately dispatched an ambulance.
The Chesterton and Porter Town Councils have issued statements, calling for Gunn to be fired.
Porter Police Chief Dan Dickey, who happened to be at the dispatch center on June 18, has previously stated that he believed the call was professionally handled.
Dickey said that dispatchers have asked if they could have a representative on the board, particularly because as it’s constituted now there are six members with the police chief, assistant police chief and town council president from each community.
Councilman James Burge, I-Ward 2, had raised the question about having an even number of members on the board because it could result in a tie vote.
Madigan said that she didn’t believe an even number of board members would be an issue. She said the councils from both towns are the ones charged with making the ultimate decisions about the joint dispatch center.
As for whether a dispatcher could attend the meeting as a liaison, Madigan said she would check with Chesterton Town Council President Sharon Darnell, D-Dist. 4, on that question.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.