WHEREAS, it is known that one-third of all Americans live in rural areas; 90 percent of all law enforcement agencies serve populations of less than 25,000 residents; 75 percent of all law enforcement agencies serve a population of fewer than 10,000 residents, while rural violent crime has increased over 53 percent in the last 10 years; and

WHEREAS, hundreds of chiefs of police and sheriffs, from rural areas across the nation, have verified the need for federal assistance in the areas of management education, technical assistance, and the creation of an information clearinghouse for rural law enforcement agencies because the majority of existing local, state, and federal programs are too costly for small law enforcement agencies and are structured to serve the larger law enforcement agencies of the country; and, now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), duly assembled at its 105th annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, strongly supports competitively awarded federal funding of training programs that are specifically designed to meet the special needs of rural law enforcement executives.