Discussion of Policy 911-005.6: DuPage Emergency Dispatch Interoperable Radio
System (DEDIR System) Use of Emergency Button
Member Burmeister said that he and Member Tyler had met to discuss the matter. He
said ACDC had no issue with the initial policy as written by ETSB, but he understood
DU-COMM had some operational needs. Member Tyler said DU-COMM’s proposal was
that the PSAPs exchange policies and keep each other informed, rather than having a
single overarching policy. He said neither of the PSAP policy aligned exactly with the
ETSB policy and that it was better to leave it open-ended as long as there was
communication. He said Chiefs governed DU-COMM’s operations, and if a police or fire
Chief wanted to change how emergency button activations were handled, he could not
stop them.
Member Burmeister said the PSAPs had already exchanged their policies. Member
Jansen said his concern was consistency, asking if both PSAPs operated the same way so
agencies moving between centers would not face differences. Chair Selvik said the same
concern applied even without a switch, since the centers served as backups for each other
during mutual aid. He asked if there were differences in how the PSAPs handled
activations. Member Tyler said the code word for false activations was the same, but how
telecommunicators contacted users was different. He said he was not concerned with
strict uniformity as long as PSAPs kept each other informed. He said mutual aid already
presented unknowns with agencies outside the System. He said as far as having black and
white language that would tell police and fire Chiefs how they must respond and not
allow them to change it, “I don’t see how I could bring that to them”. Executive Director
Zerwin said the IGA for the DEDIR System required agencies to follow the system, and
that superseded any internal policy.
Chair Selvik said the bigger question was whether this was a PSAP issue or one that
required standardization across the system. He said consistency was important for
dispatchers and Chiefs should not dictate conflicting practices. Member Tyler said the
policy as drafted was operational, not technological, and that Chiefs might want stricter
procedures in the future. He said ETSB policy should not prevent that flexibility.
Executive Director Zerwin said such changes should come to PAC, since its purpose was
to create standardized system policies. She said once an incident was dispatched, agency
response was operational, but the emergency button process was written by Chiefs for
consistency and safety.
Vice Chair Clark said he was concerned that if ETSB dictated procedures for the
emergency button, it might extend into other operational areas. Executive Director
Zerwin said ETSB did not want to go that deep but the Chiefs had asked for consistency.
Chair Selvik said he supported consistency, noting the policy had been adopted in 2018
and should evolve but remain standardized. He said whether there was one policy or
separate PSAP policies, both should still come through PAC for review.
Member Fleury said he feared that allowing each PSAP to set its own rules would create
confusion for dispatchers. He said this might be more of a PSAP issue than an ETSB
issue but cautioned against going too far down that path. Vice Chair Clark said the policy
might include too much detail and should be broader. Member Fleury said any
technological change would also force constant revisions. Vice Chair Clark agreed that
