Collaboration and communication are the keys to success. No one knows that better than Porter County Board President Jim Biggs.
Using his lifelong expertise on public safety to support his community, Biggs and other local officials are doing everything they can to ensure Porter County has the best and most up-to-date safety resources.
“Through my responsibilities as a county commissioner, my master’s degree in public education, and my background in public safety I keep a close eye on what's happening throughout the county in the way of public safety,” Biggs said.
Biggs doesn’t just do this work for himself. He keeps the employees and the citizens of Porter County first and foremost.
“Public safety is a very important issue, and it’s something that's in the forefront in the minds of most of our residents,” he said.
Supporting and implementing 21st-century safety throughout Porter County is no small feat.
Porter County is one of the 10 largest counties in the state with over 170,000 residents. In addition, safety agencies throughout the county employ over 1,200 people with an annual budget of $61 million.
To carry out this initiative properly, the Porter County Government has created a public safety commission. This commission brings together officials throughout the county from local hospitals, firefighting, police, and EMT agencies.
To begin, the commission is examining county policies/procedures, average salaries, recruitment, and retention efforts.
Additionally, the quick pace of technology and COVID made the need to continue evaluating public safety apparent.
“Studies throughout the years have proven that technological advancements have been beneficial to law enforcement,” Biggs said. “The same is true in all areas of safety. However, with those increased advancements also comes an increased cost of operating.”
The commission hopes to find unique ways to mitigate costs while maintaining the highest quality.
“There's a smarter way to approach this problem, and we're taking the time to try to develop it,” Biggs said. “We’re developing a study that we can present to the government and residents of Porter County.”
One potential option is consolidating resources throughout the county.
“A good example of aligning resources would be a ladder truck for a fire department,” Biggs said. “This idea was brought to us by the local fire chiefs. A ladder truck is expensive and is used only on very tall buildings. Since these types of trucks aren’t used very often in this area, perhaps every municipality that participates in the initial purchase of it could share ownership, access, and upkeep as well.”
In addition to improving safety, Porter County officials also work to be fiscally responsible.
“The future of operating an effective government is to keep it at a manageable level for taxpayers,” said Biggs. “The answer is going to be consolidation.”
Although they are early in this process, Biggs and his colleagues have created a substantial base and mission to build upon.
“At the end of the day, any area that gives us better police officers, better firemen, better departments in general is what we should be doing. If it makes us better. We should be pursuing that end,” Biggs said. "We are grateful for the expertise provided by public safety consultant Bob Byrd, Porter County Sheriff Jeff Balon, Porter County E911 Director Debby Gunn, Commissioner Barb Regnitz, MAAC Foundation President Celina Weatherwax along with the representatives of the municipal and township law enforcement and fire department agencies."
To learn more about the Porter County Board of Commissioners and their work, visit porterco.org/150/Board-of-Commissioners.
