(KAIR)--Atchison County Sheriff Jack Laurie is concerned that a failure to quickly upgrade Atchison County's emergency radio equipment will end in tragedy. 

His concerns follow a pursuit Thursday that lasted nearly 90 minutes, a time-line that Laurie believes could have been reduced if the three responding law enforcement agencies could have better communicated with each other. “It came down to a communications issue. If we all had been on the same channel, the same frequency, communicating together, we would have stopped it an hour before.”

The Atchison County Sheriff's Department, the Atchison Police Department and the Kansas Highway Patrol all assisted in the pursuit, which never exceeded 45 miles per hour, that ultimately led to the arrest of 32-year-old Atchison fugitive John Anderson on numerous charges. “Where we're at now has to stop, has to change, because we had three agencies involved, I've got three microphones in my hand trying to talk to the Highway Patrol, trying to talk to my guys, and trying to talk to the Police Department. You can't do it while you're driving.”

Laurie says the issue comes down to the current use of separate radio frequencies, and the lack of repeaters required to get radio signals from one point to another. 

He says the technology to remedy the situation exists, but does bear a hefty price tag. 

The cost could be covered through use of the county wide one cent sales tax approved by voters in 1993 to fund both joint communications and solid waste. 

Laurie says the issue is currently being assessed by the recently formed Joint Communications Board, which plans to present a budget to the Atchison City and County Commissions in the near future. 

Those two bodies will have the final approval on whether or not the sales tax revenue will be expended on what Laurie calls life saving purchases.