JACKSON COUNTY, Iowa — A safety issue law enforcement in Jackson County has faced for decades is about to see major improvements.
This is after first responders in the county have struggled with outdated equipment.
"It just creates a huge problem," Jackson County Sheriff Brent Kilburg said.
The ongoing problems almost cost an officer's life.
"There was shots fired at the deputy," Kilburg said.
The incident happened back in January 2021 when a Clinton County deputy was shot. Dozens of first responders rushed to the scene which included Jackson County deputies.
"The difficulty was we couldn't talk to them on the other side and they couldn't talk to us," Kilburg said.
Kilburg said deputies out on patrol face that issue often.
"That's where we're putting ourselves in danger," Kilburg said.
"We've been looking for several years which direction we want to go," Jackson County Emergency Management coordinator Lyn Medinger said.
Law enforcement in Jackson County is set to overhaul its police radio system.
"We're out here trying to perform emergency services and when we can't communicate, that's a bad deal for everybody," Kilburg said.
Kilburg and Medinger said this is a long time coming.
"It's got to be done because some of the old ways we've been limping along with are going to go away," Kilburg said.
The county has approved spending roughly $1.2 million in equipping crews with new gear.
"It comes down to officer safety," Medinger said.
Medinger and Kilburg said this couldn't wait any longer.
"That's the number one priority behind what we do," Kilburg said.
On some calls, Kilburg said deputies had to go from using their radios to their cell phones.
Deputies run into radio issues in more rural parts of the county with steep and hilly landscape.
The upgrades will include roughly $700,000 for new equipment at the dispatch center and a signal tower. Another $500,000 will outfit each squad car and officer in the county.
"One of the biggest things is, you want to be able to communicate, because if the information is no good, you can't share it, know it, to know how to respond and act to that," Kilburg said.
The project will consist of two phases as police receive new equipment in the first phase then fire and EMS will go through the second phase.
Jackson County will fund most of the project.