Yep
A great many factors go into how far away given transmitter is receivable. Notably, the height of the reciving antenna and transmitting antenna, antenna gain, and terrain.
My heuristic would be, for most public safety applications, you can probably receive a vhf signal at 40 miles away, with an outdoor antenna up about 25+ feet, using decent coax.
Naturally, your mileage may vary markedly.