About Du-Comm
In the early 1970's, a Hillside, Illinois police officer was kidnapped and murdered by a group who had just committed an armed robbery. The officer, who was unaware of the robbery, stopped their vehicle for a routine traffic violation. He radioed the traffic stop to his dispatcher but, because of channel congestion, was never heard. Local, state and federal government agencies then worked together to create smaller radio networks. DU-COMM was created to provide centralized communications for the northeast and northwest quadrants of DuPage County. DU-COMM a.k.a. DuPage Public Safety Communications is an intergovernmental agency formed in 1975 to provide emergency communications services to several police, fire, and emergency medical departments. DU-COMM serves 27 agencies covering 700,000+ residents of DuPage County.
Staffing
DU-COMM's 48 Telecommunicators are supported by 6 Operations Managers, Training Manager, Office Services Manager, Human Resources Manager, Technical Services Manager, 3 full-time Technicians, an IT staff, and an Assistant Director and Executive Director.
Call Statistics
Whenever a citizen needs to see a police officer, firefighter or paramedic, whether it is for a stray dog running loose in the area or a major traffic accident, we take that call via the 9-1-1 lines. We average over 250,000 phone calls for service per year, which is almost 700 calls per day!
Calls are received on any one of our 45 9-1-1 lines, 6 seven digit emergency lines and 35 private lines. We have 105 phone lines, 127 radio terminal lines and 38 microwave channels.
Our Facility
In October 1992 ground was broken for our currently facility. By August of 1994 the building was completed and our technical staff began installation of the equipment necessary for dispatch. In September of 1995 we began full operation in our current facility.
The building is 12,700 square feet and cost 3 million dollars to build and equip. The west end of the building is built into a hill to help protect it from severe weather conditions. On top of the hill is our 300-foot communications tower.
The 2,600 square foot Operations Center sits on a handicapped accessible raised computer floor topped by static resistant tile. The walls are covered with an acoustic absorbing material. We currently have 12 police and 6 fire console positions with an additional 2 call taker positions and 2 supervisor positions.
Equipment
In 1995, DU-COMM spent 1.65 million dollars on a new computer system featuring the Motorola Printrak Premier CAD and has consistently upgraded the system since then. Unlike previous CAD systems, the Printrak system is designed for multi-jurisdictional agencies such as DU-COMM.
DU-COMM also maintains the host system for the county-wide mobile data computer network. These computers, also referred to as MDTs or MDCs, are used in the vehicles by the local Police, Fire and EMS agencies as an aid when responding to emergency calls.
The CAD system and MDTs are connected through a private network which allows critical information to be passed between all networks in real-time.
Radio Frequencies
DU-COMM operates on 7 UHF, 5 VHF, 2 800 MHz and several tactical frequencies which include voice and digital communications. We also maintain operations on several inter-agency VHF/UHF frequencies as authorized by the FCC. Download a list of frequencies.
MABAS
DU-COMM is the Division XII headquarters of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, which began in 1968. There are currently 48 divisions throughout Illinois and 4 divisions in Wisconsin. As time goes on more divisions in these and other states are likely to form. MABAS allows DU-COMM to communicate with and receive assistance from many non-DU-COMM fire agencies during major incidents.