Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Rural Policing Institute (RPI)?
The Rural Policing Institute (RPI) was created by Public Law 110-53 and is administered by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). The RPI develops and delivers tuition-free, specialized and advanced training to local, county, campus, and tribal law enforcement officers, and to other emergency responders located in rural areas.  Through this site, the RPI offers subscriptions to online courses to maximize training opportunities for local, county, campus, and tribal law enforcement officers, and to other emergency responders located in rural areas

What is LETN?
LETN has been providing law enforcement with distance learning solutions for over 20 years.  LETN courses are accessed either through an encrypted satellite or through the Internet using our digital video-on-demand feature.  The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) has contracted with LETN to provide online courses for local, county, campus, and tribal law enforcement officers, and to other emergency responders located in rural areas as part of its Rural Policing Institute (RPI) initiative.  LETN provides registration and course content management services for the RPI’s eLearning component. Non-eligible departments can subscribe to LETN courses, but will not have those subscriptions funded by the RPI.

What is CiNow^SM?
CiNow^SM is the name of LETN’s Learning Management System (LMS).  CiNow^SM will track access to courses, course completions, and assignment of lesson plans.  At the successful completion of the course and demonstration of the competencies for that course, a certificate will be issued.

How is “rural” defined?
In order to qualify for subscriptions funded through the Rural Policing Institute (RPI), a student’s employing agency must meet one of the following criteria:

• Be located in an area outside of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA). To determine if your agency is in an MSA, please visit http://quickfacts.census.gov). Select the state and county in which your agency is located, and then scroll down to the last row to determine your county’s status. Agencies located in counties labeled “Micropolitan” or “None” are eligible for RPI-funded subscriptions.
• Be located in an area within an MSA and a county, borough, parish, or area under the jurisdiction of an Indian Tribe, with a population of not more than 50,000.

What does it cost?
Subscriptions are available at no cost to agencies located in areas that meet the definition of rural, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.  Please be advised that the availability of subscriptions is dependent on the availability of funding at the time of registration. The Rural Policing Institute (RPI) requests and encourages participating officers and their supervisors to provide feedback on the eLearning training programs.

How long is the Rural Policing Institute (RPI) eLearning subscription?
Once registered, the student will receive a one-year subscription to the online courses.  The FLETC reserves the right to review and terminate any subscription at any time. 

What does the officer/deputy receive?
Once an officer’s agency is determined to be Rural Policing Institute (RPI)-eligible, the officer gains access to the Learning Management System and can select from over 184 multimedia courses from a variety of disciplines in law enforcement.  Students can self-select the courses or their supervisors can assign lesson plans.

How do I register?
First, a department must be Rural Policing Institute (RPI)-eligible.  Thereafter, an officer/deputy can complete the registration process in four easy steps.

• Step One: Complete all fields in the registration form.  Make sure your supervisor’s contact information is correct.
• Step Two: Submit the registration form and receive back a confirmation email.
• Step Three: Notify your supervisor that he/she will be receiving an email to confirm your employment and to acknowledge the terms and conditions.  Your supervisor must complete that verification for the registration process to continue.
• Step Four: Receive confirmation of your acceptance into the RPI-funded eLearning courses and access to LETN’s Learning Management System.

What if I’m already a LETN customer?
Current LETN customers are not eligible for new Rural Policing Institute (RPI)-funded subscriptions. Current customers who qualify as rural as defined by the Office of Management and Budget may apply after their current subscriptions have expired.

What happens when a subscription expires?
Subscriptions are available for one year. Officers may reapply after their subscriptions have expired. Availability of subscriptions is dependent on availability of funding.

Can a subscription be transferred to another officer?
Subscriptions are assigned to individual officers for a one-year period and are nontransferable.