Porter County E-911 Executive Director Debby Gunn is stepping down.
“I did submit my letter of resignation,” she said by phone Friday morning, but declined to comment further until after she meets with Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North, on Monday.
The resignation was news to Biggs, who said, “The Board of Commissioners does not have a resignation from Debby Gunn. That’s devastating news to me, because I thought she was a superior 911 director and I’ve worked with five of them.”
He said Gunn’s position is one of the most difficult to replace because it’s so specialized, adding that Gunn ended up being promoted to the position about four years ago after commissioners failed to find a suitable candidate. Gunn, who had 15 years of experience as a dispatcher and trainer at the time, put her name in the running at that point.
“The commissioners interviewed her and interviewed her again and thought, ‘We’re going to take a chance,’ because she had not really ever run a dispatch center,” Biggs said, adding that Gunn was able to stem the costly high turnover of six dispatchers a year to just one last year, as well as tighten the department’s policies and procedures. “It’s just run so much more professionally,” he said.
Not everyone agrees. Officials in Chesterton and Porter called for her resignation last year after the June 18, 2025, officer-involved shooting outside the Hilton Garden Inn in Chesterton, in which two officers suffered gunshot wounds and the suspect died by suicide.
Gunn and Biggs said immediately following the incident that the dispatching of police after the event illustrated the need for the Chesterton/Porter Police Dispatch Center to consolidate with Porter County E-911.
Tensions erupted between Chesterton Police Chief Tim Richardson, Gunn and Biggs. Gunn contended, with call logs as evidence, that there was a nearly five-minute delay in the request for an ambulance to the officer, an allegation that was staunchly denied by the town of Chesterton.
Richardson stated during a March 27 meeting with county officials that he wouldn’t talk with Gunn without someone else present because of the internal communications he had viewed between Gunn and Biggs about the officer-involved shooting. “The things you guys said to each other in text messages and emails was one of the worst things I have read,” Richardson told Gunn and Biggs then.
On June 18, 2025, a wanted suspect fatally shot himself and wounded Chesterton Police Officer Nolan Mancera during a shootout on Gateway Boulevard. Mancera eventually recovered, returned to duty and was promoted to corporal. Mancera and Lt. David Virijevich received the Indiana District 1 Law Enforcement Council’s Officer of the Year Award for their bravery in handling the incident.
Biggs phoned the Post-Tribune shortly after the shooting, stating it was time for Chesterton and Porter’s separate police dispatch to consolidate with Porter County E-911, citing the alleged five-minute delay. That prompted a furious response and denial from Chesterton and Porter.
Chesterton Councilwoman Erin Collins, D-2nd, led the Chesterton Council in a call for Gunn’s resignation, citing “repeated unprofessional conduct and false and misleading public statements.” Porter Police Chief Dan Dickey, supported by the Porter Town Council, joined the chorus.
He was not available for comment Friday.
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Tensions remained high between the towns and the county for most of the past year, though communications had improved and the groups were working together to foster a consolidation that began April 1 after the county forced the issue, stating it was out of compliance with the state in its role as a public safety answering point (PSAP) without the consolidation.
County commissioners adopted a new standard operating procedure that called for the county’s 911 operators to stay on the line with a 911 caller throughout an incident, rather than transferring the caller to the separate dispatch center for Porter and Chesterton Police. Chesterton and Porter Police said the new setup would be “inefficient” because officers wouldn’t be able to further question the caller.
Collins said the safety of police officers and residents could be jeopardized, but the consolidation ultimately spelled the end of the Chesterton/Porter Police dispatch center. Chesterton and Porter town councils decided in April they will close the joint center by Oct.1.
Porter Councilwoman Laura Madigan, D-1st, said that Porter tried to keep its dispatch center, even contacting the National Park Service about the possibility of merging with their operations. But the plan didn’t come together.
Chesterton and Porter officials also acknowledged the realities of financial constraints posed by changes in Indiana state law, significantly reducing property tax revenue for their towns. Tensions likely bubbled again after the latest Porter County Council meeting June 23, when Gunn said Chesterton and Porter did not need their own talk group, a mechanism used in the dispatching of emergency services, as well as her wish to convert the entire county to one talk group.
Collins, now Chesterton Town Council president, said the council stood firm in its call for Gunn’s resignation “for repeated unprofessional conduct and false and misleading public statements.
“I appreciate Debby Gunn’s years of service to Porter County and wish her the very best in whatever comes next,” Collins said. “For Chesterton, our focus remains exactly where it has been throughout this process: ensuring that residents continue to receive the highest level of emergency communications and public safety services possible.”
Collins said that the town is looking forward to working collaboratively with county leadership and the new leader of Porter County Central Communications.
“Change often presents an opportunity for a fresh start, and I am hopeful this transition allows everyone to work together toward that shared goal,” she said.
Madigan noted that since she publicly agreed with colleagues in calling for Gunn’s resignation last year, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that she is “relieved by this decision.”
“It is unfortunate that the delay has exacerbated the ongoing challenges regarding staffing and consolidation,” she added.
However, Madigan said she’s confident the sheriff and local police and fire chiefs know that if they are included in the vetting and choosing of Gunn’s replacement, all would “benefit from a safe and sustainable path forward.”
Richardson declined to comment on Gunn’s resignation, stating that he wanted to hear it from an official source. “Give me some time to process this,” he said.
Shelley Jones and Jim Woods are freelance reporters for the Post-Tribune.