“This is a fantastic Institute, but I just wish I had heard about it five or seven years ago,” said Chris Wagoner, commander of the Santa Fe College Police Department in Gainesville, Fla., and one of the 31 law enforcement chiefs and officials who attended the Fall 2010 Rural Law Enforcement Technology Institute.
Chief Jeff Wilson of the Orofino, Idaho, Police Department agreed. So did Michael Grant, assistant chief of the Stallion Springs, Calif. Police Department, Bob Berg, chief of the Centralia, Wash., Police Department, and numerous others who attended the event, held for five days in early October in San Diego.
Hosted each spring and fall by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center’s (NLECTC) Small, Rural, Tribal, and Border Regional Center (SRTB-RC)—one of the public safety programs operated by The Center for Rural Development—the Institute brings officials together and gives each a platform to share a presentation on low-cost, high-smarts technology and planning solutions for common small-agency issues.
At the Fall Institute, those issues included radio communications, records management, finding creative funding solutions for necessary equipment and doing more with less funding, among others.
Networking Is Key
Wagoner presented on developing distance learning abilities for advanced law-enforcement training that satisfies stringent state requirements. But what struck him the most, he said, was the realization that although he was the only Florida law enforcement official in attendance, the inherent networking at the Institute could quickly change that for future events.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve already sent e-mail back to our director who is in charge of all of the training centers in the state of Florida,” Wagoner said. “That one person can then spread the word to the entire state—every single chief and sheriff—because we’re all trying find technology solutions that are more cost-effective than the old way of doing things, yet still allow officers to continue to do their jobs effectively.”
Such networking is essential to the mission of the Institutes, said Scott Barker, SRTB-RC executive director.
The challenge, he said, is to continue making the 87 percent of the nation’s law enforcement agencies with less than 50 sworn officers—nearly 17,000 total—aware of these networking connections and services available to them through SRTB-RC and other NLECTC Center programs in the country.
“Our outreach specialists and project managers do a great job of attending major conferences and events all over the nation to get the word out about what we can do for them,” Barker said. “But some of our most potent advertising is the testimonials of chiefs and officials here at these Institutes, who almost always come away from our events with information on getting the equipment they need, saving funding or finding funding to accomplish key services.”
Connections Can Save Lives
One such example came this May at the Spring 2010 Institute. Sgt. John Osbourn of the Marysville, Calif., Police Department heard Chief Tom Linn of the Blanchard, Okla., Police Department remark in his presentation that 30 percent of Oklahoma peace officers perform their duties without body armor because of financial constraints.
Upon researching with his department, Osbourn learned they could donate 100 vests—with more than a year’s warranty left on each—to the Blanchard Police Department for distribution there as well as at other Oklahoma departments.
“That connection would not have occurred had it not been for the men getting linked up through our Institute,” said Lonnie Lawson, president and CEO of The Center for Rural Development. “The Institutes bring together real-world practitioners to share ideas and look for commonalities in the way they do business on a day-to-day basis, and we encourage the agencies we serve to look for affordable solutions to the problems they encounter.”
Hands-On, High-Tech
The Fall Institute represents the 10th such event organized and hosted by SRTB-RC, one of three resource and outreach centers in the NLECTC system within the National Institute of Justice, a program of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Presentations delivered at the events can be on how an agency addressed an issue, can present a problem to the group for input on a solution, or can impart lessons learned during the implementation of a particular technology. SRTB-RC also arranges for presentations from other NIJ Centers and staff on services available to them from the federal government or other resources.
At the Fall 2010 Institute, attendees presented on a wide variety of session topics ranging from utilizing low-cost GPS units to curb on-campus bike theft, largely paperless e-ticketing systems, solving interoperability communications issues, affordable alternatives to mobile data terminals, utilizing systems to distribute emergency information via text and e-mail to campuses and communities, processing digital media from in-car and officer-worn cameras, and various others.
The Institute also featured a technology demonstration during which the participants were divided into several groups and given the opportunity to move through different stations where demonstrating products were being exhibited.
These technologies included a low-cost firearms simulator; a powered parachute sponsored by Ripon, Calif., Police Department; Segway personal vehicles; a Recon Scout reconnaissance robot; an eGuardian Web-based information-sharing system hosted by the FBI; electronic license-plate readers; and the Crime Reports system.
This event provided the participants an opportunity to get a hands-on experience with top technologies being tested by SRTB-RC and NIJ. Attendees also get the benefit of becoming a part of a network of new resources built during the Institutes.
“Everyone receives the full contact list for all current participants, as well as contact information for all past attendees and topics they presented,” Barker said. “Again this time, we heard more than one participant say this was the best training they had ever had.”
Jeff Wilson, chief of the Orofino, Idaho, Police Department agreed. “By bringing together these people who are experiencing or going through issues, they have great solutions to a lot of the problems to share so that all of us don’t have to encounter the same problems and try to seek different solutions,” Wilson said. “Lots of times a solution is good for many of us, and that’s the greatest benefit.”
Michael Grant, assistant chief of the Stallion Springs CA Police Department, echoed those sentiments. “It’s crucial to attend this conference, no matter what size department you’re in,” Grant said, “because everybody, whether from a large or small department, seems to have the same problems. It’s just staying on top of the game.”
“Even if you take the New York Police Department and you break it down far enough where it’s just four or five cops working a neighborhood trying to get service to the people they work for, we face so many of the same issues,” Bob Berg, chief of the Centralia, Wash., Police Department, said. “This Institute is a fascinating way to find out about those things and a fantastic way to share.”
Funded through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute for Justice, National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, and The Center for Rural Development, SRTB-RC serves as an honest broker providing responsive solutions and practical benefits to small and rural law enforcement agencies and acting as a one-stop-shop for free technical assistance and access to other NIJ Centers for nearly 17,000 small, rural, tribal, and border agencies across the nation through innovative, collaborative cooperation.
For more information on SRTB-RC and its programs, contact Program Manager Danny Ball at 606/677-6000, or visit www.srtbrc.org.