Federal, regional and local agencies gathered for the 21st annual Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee training conference this week.

The conference was a two-day seminar on Wednesday and Thursday that provided valuable and up-to-date information on special topics and procedures.

“If you were to send your police officers off and get this type of training, you’d spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars plus travel costs and things like that,” said Tommy Loftis, U.S. Attorney’s Office law enforcement coordinator and public information officer. “We just short-circuited that by bringing them the training. We bring everything the best law enforcement has to offer.”

Topics discussed included homegrown violent extremists, unregistered sex offenders, traffic homicide and others. The training was $50 for officers to register.

“We have a mixed bag of training for them, anything that they may run into in their investigative world,” Loftis said. “This is all information that they have to have in their toolbox to do their job as a professional.”

Sgt. Glenn Barr of the Daphne Police Department said the information is useful from the uncommon cases to every day work.

“It lets you see what other officers are facing, the current issues that we are facing in society and how to better deal with them incase we ever have to deal with them,” Barr said.

Selma Police Department’s Lt. Sam Miller said the conference is a great time for networking and making contacts with other agencies. He said this is useful should any of the agencies need to work together on a case.

Agencies represented at the conference included the Federal Bureau of Investigations, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Selma Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies throughout the southern district of Alabama.

“You name it. Just about every federal agency or law enforcement is here,” said District Attorney Michael Jackson. “We’ve got officers from all over.”

Jackson believes it is good to have the extra presence of law enforcement in town.

“It’s good for these gunslinger to see all of these officers and agents across the state, riding around and that type of thing,” Jackson said.