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The United States Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Rural Law Enforcement Technology Center (RULETC) held its sixth annual Rural Law Enforcement Technology Institute in Coronado, Calif., May 4 – 7.

The Institute is designed for the command staff and supervisory personnel of rural and small law enforcement agencies containing less than 50 sworn officers. Law enforcement personnel learned about technology initiatives and issues affecting the rural and small law enforcement community. Participants received information and assistance on existing and developing technologies, worked with problems relating to technology implementation, and exchanged technology lessons learned, that are of importance to the rural and small law enforcement community. 

Chief George Navarro of the Bridge City Independent School District Police Department participated with forty other officers in this informative and innovative event. Some topics of discussion were computer aided dispatch, cyber investigations, community and campus alert systems, communications, evidence management, school incident response, emerging digital video equipment technologies, global information systems and various others.

Chief Navarro stated that the most beneficial part of the Institute was the interaction with their contemporaries. “I found that other departments are facing the same issues that we encounter and that there are some good solutions out there that are reasonable in cost.”

The Institute was funded by National Institute of Justice a division of the United States Justice Department and there was no cost to the participants and their agencies. Participants were selected on a competitive basis from across the United States.