Thanks to cell phones, dialing 911 when there’s an emergency has never been easier. What if you live in an area without cell service?

In Southern Arizona, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department is issuing 71 police radios to rural schools, allowing them to directly connect to law enforcement when they encounter danger. Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said radios also will be given to bus drivers.

“We had an example here where the bus driver’s picking up kids at the bus stop and they had a group of illegals running right by the kids,” Dannels said.

The portable radios are privately funded and are the result of a 4-year-old plan to upgrade community policing. Forty southern Arizona ranchers also will carry sheriff-issued radios so they can talk directly to police or other ranchers.