U.S. Senator Ken Salazar U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson U.S. Senator Mark Pryor
For Immediate Release February 13, 2007		CONTACTS: Cody Wertz – Sen. Salazar Press: 303-350-0032 Sen. Chambliss Press: 202-224-3423 Sheridan Watson – Sen. Isakson Press 202-224-7777 Lisa Ackerman – Sen. Pryor Press: 202-224-2353
Senators Push Bipartisan Solution to Rural Law Enforcement Needs WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rural law enforcement agencies face a difficult challenge in receiving up-to-date training, with tight budgets and small staffs frequently forcing a choice between training opportunities and keeping officers on the street. Today, United States Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) introduced legislation to create a special, rural-focused law enforcement training institute to assist rural agencies in receiving cutting-edge training without sacrificing public safety. “Most American law enforcement agencies serve rural communities and towns, like my hometown of Manassa in the San Luis Valley. In fact, of the nearly 17,000 police agencies nationwide, nine out of ten serve a population of fewer than 25,000 and operate with fewer than 50 sworn officers,” said Senator Salazar. “Yet Washington fails to recognize the crisis these law enforcement agencies face from the combination of decreased funding, increased homeland security responsibilities, and the scourge of methamphetamines.” “There is no question – and I hear this whenever I travel around the state – that our local law enforcement in rural areas are called upon day in and day out to provide the nuts and bolts of criminal investigations and law enforcement,” said Chambliss. “In many areas, increased crime and the scourge of methamphetamine drug trafficking have placed severe pressures on local law enforcement capabilities and, as we continue to call upon our rural law enforcement folks to do more, we must provide them with access to specialized training.” “By having a program where we can send instructors to these rural police departments, we maximize our training capabilities and ensure that these officers are able to receive on the job training without reducing manpower,” Isakson said. “This program is a win-win for our law enforcement personnel, FLETC and the American taxpayer.” “As a former Arkansas Attorney General, I know first hand how rural law enforcement officers are stretched thin by the battle against meth addiction, homeland security responsibilities and public safety requirements,” said Pryor. “In order to effectively address these challenges, we must recognize up-to-date training is crucial. RPI would serve not only as an excellent hub for this kind of expertise, but also a place for local collaboration.” The bipartisan legislation would create a new “Rural Policing Institute” (RPI) administered by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). Located in Glynco, Georgia, FLETC is the training hub for over 80 Federal agencies, including FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals and others. FLETC operates a widely-praised Office of State and Local Training, which “exports” its training expertise to state, local, campus, and tribal law enforcement agencies by sending its staff into the field to train local law enforcement. Each year, staff from FLETC’s Office of State and Local Training travel to approximately 30 states and put on over 60 training programs. Building off of the success of the Office of State and Local Training, the RPI would be empowered to work with rural law enforcement agencies to assess training needs specific to rural law enforcement (such as the demands of the meth epidemic), develop and export specially-tailored rural training programs and work to ensure these rural law enforcement agencies are aware of these new training opportunities. # # #