Alex Dalton

The Porter and Chesterton police departments are the only two public safety agencies in Porter County whose dispatch is not handled by Porter County Central Communications (PCCC). The police departments employ their own dispatchers, who work out of a shared office.

A longstanding public debate over whether the two departments should join PCCC was reignited in June after two Chesterton police officers were involved in a shootout with an armed suspect. One officer was injured and the suspect, after receiving multiple bullet wounds himself, took his own life.

Around five minutes elapsed between when the first shots were fired and when the Chesterton dispatcher first made phone contact with PCCC. The town dispatcher called a PCCC administrative line immediately after learning of

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