Not surprisingly, these innovations have provided small town police departments with access to the same level of online resources as their larger urban counterparts. For instance, a seminal study by Wasby (1975) found that there was a lack of communication of important Supreme Court decisions to small town police departments. The findings of the Wasby study were likely made obsolete by police administrators' higher educational levels today and by the introduction of Supreme Court opinions and case commentaries on the Internet, thereby providing easy access by small town police departments (Zalman & Smith, 2007).
Likewise, in their analysis of small-town police department information needs, Winn, Bucy and Klishis (1999) emphasize that even in "low-tech, nonmilitarized" settings, small-town police departments are increasingly experiencing the need for the same type of technology that their larger urban counterparts enjoy. For instance, these authors emphasize that, "In the Information Age, it is more true than ever that knowledge is power. For security professionals, the precise knowledge of what transpired when a security breach occurs is key to preventing a recurrence and, in the best cases, catching the criminals. Accurate and reliable incident report information is as critical to the security mission as state-of-the-art access control" (Bucy & Klishis, p. 93).
The impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the need for localized emergency response efforts has also resulted in a trend wherein smaller police departments are seeking out the same types of emergency response and tactical equipment that larger departments possess, but many either lack of the funds needed to acquire such equipment and the training required to use it effectively once it is obtained. The results of a recent study by Latourrette, Peterson, Bartis, Jackson and Houser (2003) found that the procurement of personal protective equipment for smaller municipal police departments and the provision of training in its use continue to lag far behind the need. A police official in one smaller municipality reported, "We are the only public servant first responder [organization] that has never been mandated to have such equipment" (quoted in Latourrette et al. At p. 54).
Likewise, another representative from a small-town police department in a heavily industrialized region of the country described how his police department was relatively well prepared in terms of communications, hazmat, and incident command; however, in terms of personal protective technology, this official stressed: "We are sadly lacking. To put an officer out there with insufficient training and equipment is not right" (quoted in Latourrette et al. At p. 54). Some small-town police departments have managed to acquire some lesser expensive equipment which they have found just as useful and effective as their larger city counterparts. For instance, Nolan (2005) reports that the police department in Junction City, Louisiana, acquired Tasers and non-lethal weapons and ammunition in recent years and have experienced highly positive results. According to Nolan, "The Tasers are especially useful in a small department such as Junction City, where often a single officer works patrol with backup from neighboring agencies 15 or more minutes away. Because of his small staff, the chief is always chasing down new technology. His department is the first in Lane County to acquire Tasers, and was the first to buy bean-bag rifles a decade ago" (Nolan, p. 1).
Notwithstanding the traditionally benign "Mayberry"-type views of crime in smaller communities consisting of bootleg moonshining and the occasional domestic disturbance, the fact remains that police in these smaller communities face many of the same types of violent crime as big cities but the small town police departments lack the training and equipment they need to be truly effective first responders. As Latourrette and his colleagues emphasize, in small towns, "The low baseline of personal protection preparedness combined with high performance demands on personal protective technology used in law enforcement creates particularly difficult hurdles standing in the way of improving the health and safety of law enforcement responders in the line of duty" (p. 54).
Increased Illegal Drug Activity.
Many rural communities have experienced an increase in the incidence of illicit drug trade and manufacture. As noted above, many small-town police departments have faced increased economic pressures to become more
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