The county committee that oversees the radio system connecting Naperville police and firefighters to 911 dispatchers took up proposed changes Monday, July 6, to its emergency panic button protocol and cross-county access rules. Vote outcomes have not been published.
The DuPage County Emergency Telephone System Board's Policy Advisory Committee considered a slate of modifications to the DuPage Emergency Dispatch Interoperable Radio System, known as DEDIR. Naperville operates its own Emergency Communications Center, separate from the county's DU-COMM dispatch hub, but the city's police, fire, and Park District police departments connect to the broader DEDIR network through a memorandum of understanding last modified and approved February 2, 2026.
How the emergency button works now
One resolution on the July 6 agenda proposed updated language for Policy 911-005.6, which governs what happens when a first responder hits the emergency button on their radio. The specific wording changes have not been made public.
Under the current policy, adopted in 2018 and last revised January 5, 2026, pressing the button triggers an immediate sequence: the officer's six-digit radio ID, name, and talkgroup flash on dispatch consoles, and that radio gets priority over all other traffic on the channel. If a dispatcher can't reach the responder after two attempts, backup is dispatched immediately and the watch commander is notified.
The policy applies to all Public Safety Answering Points in the DuPage ETSB system, superseding any conflicting local dispatch rules.
Cross-county radio access on the table
Three MOU modifications were also on the agenda, each granting or updating access to the DEDIR system:
- Wheaton College, under rules governing non-public-safety and school access
- Cook County ETSB, extending interoperability across the county line
- Tri-Com Central Dispatch, a Kane County-area dispatch center based in St. Charles
A separate item would approve additional DEDIR talkgroup access for DU-COMM, the consolidated dispatch center serving 45 DuPage County agencies from its Wheaton headquarters.
Why Naperville residents should care
The DEDIR system was built as a $30 million investment that merged 32 separate radio networks into one countywide platform. At its launch, ETSB Chairman JR McBride called it "the largest financial investment DuPage ETSB has made in advancing essential 911 emergency services." Cross-county MOU expansions mean that when a multi-agency emergency unfolds near Naperville's borders with Kane or Cook counties, responders from those jurisdictions can communicate on the same radio channels as Naperville officers.
What we don't know: Post-meeting minutes from the July 6 session have not been posted to the DuPage County Legistar portal. The specific terms modified in each MOU, including any financial changes or new access conditions, are not detailed in the public agenda. Residents can request the full documents through Illinois FOIA.
City Hall week ahead
- Thursday, July 9, 5:45 p.m. — Naperville Park District Parks and Recreation Committee, Fort Hill Activity Center
- Thursday, July 9, 7:00 p.m. — Naperville Park District Board of Commissioners, Fort Hill Activity Center. Agenda at napervilleparks.community.diligentoneplatform.com
