Poweshiek Sheriff’s Office added to CIRTT

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office is adding another member to its Central Iowa Regional Tactical Team (CIRTT). During the March 15 board of supervisors meeting, the addition of the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office to the CIRTT agreement was approved in a 3-0 vote.

CIRTT is made up of multiple law enforcement agencies to spread out the cost of a tactical team — an expensive and infrequently used unit — and increase the number of CIRTT-trained officers available to each department.

The original agreement, which was approved by the supervisors in 2019, was between three local law enforcement agencies: the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Pella Police Department and Grinnell Police Department. This version of the agreement was again approved by the supervisors in December 2021.

Due to the success of this collaboration, Poweshiek County Sheriff Thomas Kriegel approached Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty at the beginning of March and requested his office be allowed to join the agreement.

“This is the exact same agreement that has been approved in the past, except now with one additional member,” Halferty told supervisors. “Everyone already involved in the agreement — Pella, Grinnell and my department — have all agreed to them joining.”

Two of the main reasons Poweshiek wanted to join CIRTT was because of its already established relationship with Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and the hopes it would cut down on emergency response time, Kriegel said.

“As it is now, my department has to rely on the state for tactical support,” Kriegel said. “I decided that joining up with CIRTT and working with people we know would greatly benefit my department and the people we serve.”

Kriegel believes by the end of the month his department’s membership should be approved, pending approval from the Poweshiek County Board of Supervisors.

It was also noted during the meeting that the addition of another member to the agreement will not cost the county any additional money due to each department paying for its own officer’s CIRTT training and equipment, Halferty said.

“(Poweshiek) will be a great asset to us. They have actually sent out some people to help with a recent incident in Sully this Sunday,” Halferty said. “We already have a good working relationship, and their people are very capable.”

Contact Abby Knipfel at 641-792-3121 ext. 6531 or aknipfel@shawmedia.com