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Columbus City staff outlines joint public-safety plan for 2026, emphasizing cross‑department training and communications
Summary
City staff reported a joint public-safety effort among the Columbus Police Department, Columbus Fire Department and the Joint Communications Center to form rescue and tactical teams, fix radio operations after an SRS transition, and expand community engagement through tours and open houses.
City staff presented a plan to deepen collaboration among the Columbus Police Department, Columbus Fire Department and the Joint Communications Center, saying the 2026 agenda will focus on joint water- and ice-rescue teams, drone operations, tactical medicine and consolidated radio communications expectations.
Ryan, a city staff member who led the update, said the departments will also work together on several policy revisions — including emergency-button activation, a Mayday/firefighter-down policy and a shots-fired policy — and will run radio-operations training to address user-side issues following last year’s full transition to the SRS communications system.
The JCC reported it has launched a quality-assurance and quality-improvement program, plans to move to remote-proctored pre-employment testing to streamline recruitment, and is planning for radio console replacements expected to become obsolete by 2030. The city also plans annual National Incident Management System and incident-command training to meet federal requirements and improve interoperability.
Police updates included formation of three committees (uniform, policy review and strategic planning), the start of K‑9 training later this month and the planned recognition of Officer Zach McCloud by the American Legion on March 14. Fire department updates included a pre-construction meeting with Pierce Manufacturing for a new ladder truck and refurbishment of an engine sent to McQueen in Omaha; staff also said three members were selected for Nebraska Task Force One.
Officials said they will strengthen interdepartmental coordination, improve operational readiness, expand media-relations training for employees and increase community engagement through annual open houses and a website tour-request link. Staff noted the jurisdictions will continue monthly joint public-safety collaboration meetings; the next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday.
No formal council action was required for the briefings. The presentation concluded with a short council exchange about offering virtual tours for residents who prefer not to attend in person; Ryan said the city could explore virtual options but would need technical support to implement them.
