The two communities on Interstate 80 closest to the Nebraska-Wyoming state line have officially signed a mutual aid agreement between their police departments.
Chiefs Jose Ruiz of Kimball and Austin Smith of Pine Bluffs worked out the details and presented the agreement to their respective city councils with Kimball signing off last month and Pine Bluffs this week.
Chief Ruiz says the agreement allows police officers from one town to go to the other to assist in one of 3 types of events: mass casualty, active shooter or severe weather.
Kimball and Pine Bluffs are closer to each other than to any other law enforcement agency in their respective states and Ruiz says an agreement like this makes sense.
He says it takes time for law enforcement from other Nebraska agencies to reach Kimball, which isn’t a problem in lower-level incidents, but help is needed as soon as possible in urgent situations like the 3 covered in the agreement.
Chief Ruiz says the mutual aid agreement for urgent situations is especially valuable right now since the Kimball police department has several vacancies it’s trying to fill.