 If you've noticed more helicopters flying over Beltrami County this past week, those could be your local emergency responders. Beltrami County law enforcement agencies and responders have been practicing drills the past two weeks. They worked with the Bemidji Regional Airport and tested out communication systems that could help improve response times. They say they are, can never be too prepared and drills like this help identify loopholes that need further improvement. That's the main thing with these exercises is you always want to identify what you can do better but you also want to share what you do best with other people. Much as we work on improving that something always comes up and this exercise identified a gap in the radio coverage area. So we had portable radios that we were trying to talk and we weren't able to reach each other even across a relatively small area, well you know five mile, ten mile. They're hoping to transition to the armor radio system and equip more robust technology to serve the public better. Some of the participating organizations include the Bureau of Criminal of Indian Affairs, area fire departments, sheriff's offices and the area police departments. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.