421 N. COUNTY FARM ROAD  
WHEATON, IL 60187  
DU PAGE COUNTY  
ETSB - Policy Advisory Committee  
Final Summary  
www.dupagecounty.gov  
Monday, December 4, 2023  
8:15 AM  
Room 3500B  
1.  
CALL TO ORDER  
8:15 AM meeting was called to order by Chair Dina at 8:15 AM.  
2.  
ROLL CALL  
Attendees:  
Director Linda Zerwin, DuPage Emergency Telephone System Board, non-voting Member  
Matt Theusch, DuPage Emergency Telephone System Board  
Gregg Taormina, DuPage Emergency Telephone System Board  
Eve Kraus, DuPage Emergency Telephone System Board  
Andy Saucedo, Motorola System Manager (Remote)  
Scott Bukovic, Westmont PD  
Dave Dato, Citizen  
Jeanine Krull, DU-COMM  
John Nebl, OHSEM  
Steve Rauter, ETS Board Citizen Representative  
Marilu Hernandez, ACDC (Remote)  
Bob Murr, College of DuPage (Remote)  
Observer (Remote)  
On roll call, Members Dina, Baarman, Hermes, Johl, Rivas, and Selvik were present, which  
constituted a quorum.  
Dina, Johl, Baarman, Hermes, Rivas, and Selvik  
PRESENT  
3.  
CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS - CHAIR DINA  
Chair Dina provided a brief introduction to Mr. Dave Dato who volunteered his time to speak  
with the PAC regarding encryption. Chair Dina thanked Mr. Dato and said he would provide  
more information under Agenda Item 8: DuPage Encryption Discussion.  
4.  
5.  
PUBLIC COMMENT  
There was no public comment.  
CONSENT ITEMS  
5.A.  
24-0124  
ETSB PAC Minutes - Regular Meeting - Monday, November 6, 2023  
On voice vote, all Members voted "Aye", motion carried.  
2023-11-06 ETSB PAC Minutes Summary.pdf  
Attachments:  
ETSB RECEIVED AND PLACED ON FILE  
RESULT:  
Roy Selvik  
Pat Johl  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
5.B.  
24-0018  
DEDIRS November Maintainer Report  
Chair Dina commented on the radio repair process. He said he knows an email had been  
sent reminding users that the contract with DU-COMM as the radio maintainers ended  
last month. Chair Dina said DU-COMM Techs would like to take a moment to thank the  
ETSB and all DuPage radio users for the opportunity to service your radio needs. The radio  
service process would remain the same, users should open Zendesk tickets to report issues and  
ETSB will coordinate the radio repairs with Motorola. Chair Dina said please be safe this  
holiday season and practice polite radio etiquette.  
Ms. Zerwin said an email was sent to the radio points of contact and the agency Chiefs to  
remind them of this transition.  
On voice vote, all Members voted "Aye", motion carried.  
2311ETSBRadioMaintenanceReport.pdf  
Attachments:  
ACCEPTED AND PLACED ON FILE  
RESULT:  
Pat Johl  
MOVER:  
Roy Selvik  
SECONDER:  
6.  
PARENT COMMITTEE APPROVAL REQUIRED  
6.A.  
ETS-R-0038-23  
Resolution to approve Policy 911-005.2: Access to the DuPage Emergency Dispatch  
Interoperable Radio System (DEDIRS).  
On voice vote, all Members voted "Aye", motion carried.  
911-005.2 Access to the DuPage Emergency Dispatch Interoperable  
Radio System 12.13.23 draft.pdf  
Attachments:  
911-005.2 DEDIRS Application and Confidentiality Agreement  
12.13.23 draft.pdf  
APPROVED AS AMENDED  
Michael Rivas  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
Pat Johl  
SECONDER:  
7.  
DEDIRS PORTABLES AND MOBILES  
7.A. Police  
Member Rivas had nothing to report.  
7.B. Fire  
Chief Johl had nothing to report. Chair Dina said the last time the PAC met they talked about  
the Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA) going to the NFPA Committee and that the first TIA  
was denied and would not go to the Committee because everything that Fire Focus wanted was  
lumped into one TIA. He said the good news was that they agreed to push forward the ability to  
turn on the radios outside of the hazard zone without any user intervention. This means that  
when the radio is turned on, it would function as any other radio and would not enter the hazard  
zone. Chair Dina said that was a big victory. He said that Fire Focus took one item out of the  
initial TIA and submitted a second TIA for limiting the repeating voice announcements. Chair  
Dina said that was unanimously approved and will go to the full NFPA Committee meeting  
today. He said that Fire Focus had made some great progress and recognized retired Deputy  
Chief Connolly's efforts in pushing a lot of the items through.  
8.  
DU PAGE COUNTY ENCRYPTION DISCUSSION  
Chair Dina introduced Mr. Dato and said, Mr. Dato has over 48 years of progressive experience  
and responsibility in all aspects of the fire service and emergency communications. He began his  
career as a volunteer with the Wauconda (Illinois) Fire Protection District in 1978, moving into a  
full-time position in 1984 and rose through the ranks to Chief and Administrator in 1992. Mr.  
Dato retired in 2015. During his tenure as Chief, Mr. Dato served as a member of multiple  
organizations, such as the Illinois Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee, and the  
MABAS Communications Committee along with numerous National organizations. He also  
served the Lake County ETSB as its Chairman for 28 years and remains a member today. During  
his tenure with Interoperable Communication Technical Assistance Program (ICTAP), he has  
supported a variety of ICTAP projects, most notably co-authoring the National Special Security  
Communications Unit Planning Toolkit, co-authoring the consolidated communications plans for  
the 2016 Democratic National Convention, co-author and author of the communications plans  
for the last two Presidential Inaugurations, and has performed communications planning for  
numerous Super Bowls. Mr. Dato currently serves as the Chairman of the IL Statewide  
Interoperability Executive Committee, Technical subcommittee Encryption Working Group.  
Chair Dina commented that it is an impressive resume which probably left a few things out. He  
thanked Mr. Dato for being there and turned the floor over.  
Mr. Dato thanked Chair Dina and the PAC for inviting him. He said encryption is one of his  
passions and he had done it for quite a few years through various offices. Mr. Dato said one of  
his specialties is the technical assistance for encryption and has worked with many state entities.  
Mr. Dato said he is not at PAC today in his official capacity; that he is here on his time to help  
his neighbors. He said he looked through DuPage's material, with the assistance of Mr. Nebl of  
OHSEM and Chair Dina, and said DuPage is no different than what everyone else has gone  
through and that it is a good start. He said the materials include the Statewide Interoperability  
Talk Group which had changes made last week by the state tech committee and that the changes  
should be incorporated prior to implementation. Mr. Dato said he compiled some slides which  
start with an introduction to encryption and get more technical as the presentation goes on  
because he wants DuPage to be aware of the technical aspects. The presentation was shared  
onscreen and is attached at the end of these minutes.  
The beginning slides included Mr. Dato's contact information and useful resources and moved  
into things to keep in mind to reach the end goal of operability and interoperability. Mr. Dato  
provided examples of interoperability between law, fire and the Sheriffs, of keys that were shared  
between personnel from radio shops thus hindering police movement, and physical access to the  
system to make it easy to encrypt. The more complicated the security, the harder it is to use,  
there is a balance to be found.  
Mr. Dato discussed how many keys are needed between local dispatch and a common key. He  
said levels are created so only the people who have to listen are listening. He talked about  
console patching versus audio patches, resources, and busies.  
Mr. Dato said Key Management Organization, National SLN Assignment Plan, Key Generation  
and Distribution, the elements in red on the slide Elements of Encryption Best Practices are the  
more important items up front.  
Chair Dina asked for the difference between OTEK and wi-fi. Mr. Dato explained that OTEK is  
how the KMF talks to the consoles, generally. He said the wi-fi is how programming can be  
done, but not keyloading.  
Mr. Dato ended his presentation and asked for any questions/comments.  
Member Rivas asked about the crypto period and whether there is a recommended or average  
time of when they should re-key. Mr. Dato said that with the average security levels, once a year  
is probably fine, and again, provided examples to accompany his answer. He said that if you  
wait longer than a year, you would probably forget how it needs to happen.  
There was general discussion regarding next steps including training and policies.  
There were no further questions for Mr. Dato. Chair Dina said to Mr. Dato, we appreciate your  
knowledge and expertise and appreciate you volunteering your time. Mr. Dato said he does not  
want to see the original encryption nightmare that had to be unraveled with the State, he wants to  
see DuPage be successful in their encryption efforts; you need more than one key but you do not  
need fifty.  
24-0227  
DuPage Encryption Dec 2023  
DuPage Encryption Dec 2023.pdf  
Attachments:  
9.  
OLD BUSINESS  
There was no old business.  
10.  
11.  
NEW BUSINESS  
There was no new business.  
ADJOURNMENT  
11.A. Next Meeting: Monday, January 8 at 8:15am in Room 3-500A  
Member Johl made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:34am, seconded by Member Selvik. On  
voice vote, motion carried.  
Respectfully submitted,  
Eve Kraus