The Kanabec County Board held discussion on a potential joint powers agreement for a regional emergency response team at their May 4th meeting.
The Kanabec County Sheriff's Department was approached by the Isanti County Sheriff’s Department and neighboring city agencies, including Braham, Cambridge and the city of Isanti, to create a joint response team to be used for potential search warrants and necessary situations.
Many of the agencies on their own could not afford to operate their own teams, with just a proper reinforced support vehicle starting at around $300,000 and current vehicles being outdated.
The joint powers agreement would be very similar to the JPA for the East Central Drug Task Force, with each agency responsible for their own costs and staff.
Kanabec County has relied on neighboring counties like Chisago and Pine to assist in necessary situations with their own teams.
"Having officers trained at that higher level is a thing that we don't have right now and I think we need to have that" stated Kanabec County Sheriff Brian Smith.
The county board recommended the department continue discussions with Isanti County and neighboring agencies to work out a potential agreement.
