The two dispatchers just before 6 a.m. Tuesday went on the air to deliver an emotional final radio transmission for the Chesterton/Porter joint police dispatch center.
Kaylee Nugent spoke of how, for more than 50 years, police dispatchers in Porter answered the call.
“We weren’t the face of the department. We were its voice,” Nugent said.
Nugent spoke for all who had sat in her chair over those years. “You are part of our history and we are proud to have been part of yours. To our community and officers, thank you for trusting the voice on the other end of the line.”
Jessica Holaway, a Chesterton employee at the dispatch center, then talked about how the two communities came together in 2014 for a joint police dispatch that operated out of the Porter Police station.
“Moving forward, your calls will be answered from a different room, and a new chapter will begin. But what happened inside this dispatch center mattered. The friendships, the laughs, the cries, and the hard calls all mattered,” Holaway said.
In her signoff, after Holaway stated the date and time, she added, “Long live Northcom.”
The reference was to an effort to keep the dispatch center, but inevitably at 6 a.m. the consolidation with the Porter County E-911 became official.
During the final days, dispatchers tried to lighten the mood in the dispatch room. There were streamers on the door, confetti on the floor and a banner hanging from the ceiling that stated, “The beginning of a new chapter.”
The party decorations were a way to put a positive spin on the situation.
“They’re trying to be good sports about it,” Porter Police Chief Dan Dickey said.
And Dickey said that, thankfully, all the full-time employees were able to land other jobs. In fact, they were so successful that the closing of the Chesterton/Porter dispatch center was moved up a month to Sept. 1.
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“It’s definitely not what we wanted,” Dickey said. “Bittersweet is not even the right word. It’s somewhat bitter.”
Dickey has a personal connection, as he started his career in law enforcement at 18, working as a part-time dispatcher for the Porter Police in 2006.
It was in 2014 that Porter and Chesterton decided to operate a joint dispatch center.
When the two neighboring towns decided to combine forces, Dickey recalls writing a letter advocating for the two communities to have their own dispatch, and that’s what he would still prefer.
But the road to consolidation started on June 18, 2025, on one of the most stressful law enforcement days that the two towns have ever experienced.
Two Chesterton police officers answered a call about a man acting erratically at the Hilton Garden Inn and the situation deteriorated into a shootout on Gateway Boulevard. An officer was wounded and the wanted suspect who started the shooting turned his gun on himself.
Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North, and Porter County Central Communications Director Debby Gunn were critical of what they saw as delays in dispatching emergency help due to Porter and Chesterton having a separate dispatch center. That triggered a furious response from the two communities and calls for Gunn’s resignation.
Tensions remained and then the Porter County Commissioners decided that effective April 1, all 911 calls would no longer be transferred to Chesterton and Porter’s joint dispatch center to send officers on calls. The commissioners cited that they had to follow the state code regarding Porter County E-911 being the public answering point.
Nugent, who will stay with the police department as a clerk, said the most difficult part of the transition was that the county dispatchers were unfamiliar with the practices and protocols for local officers.
During the ensuing months, the two communities and the county have been working on improving the relationship.
“On the humanistic side, I am sad for our employees who no longer have positions because of the consolidation,” Chesterton Police Chief Tim Richardson said.
Richardson said he is hopeful that dispatching from one central location will improve communications between all of the first responder agencies.
During the past few months, the county has discussed adding a channel to the 911 system that would handle the Duneland area communities.
Richardson said, for now, Chesterton and Porter will be sharing the dispatch channel with the Porter County Sheriff’s Office.
While Chesterton and Porter were winding down their dispatch operations, Gunn has been making preparations for the consolidation. She announced that she was leaving the job in July, but is staying indefinitely until her replacement is chosen.
Gunn said there are currently 23 dispatchers on staff with five more currently in training. Eventually, Gunn said she hopes to have a full complement of 31 dispatchers to handle the work.
“I am excited. It’s been a long time coming,” Gunn said.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.