Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday warned that financially strained police forces around the country likely will shrink for the first time in the quarter century in which statistics have been tallied.

Holder said that by the end of this year, 12,000 police officers and sheriff's deputies probably will lose their jobs amid government budget shortfalls and cuts in a sluggish economy, citing a new Justice Department report.

"The findings included in this new report show that law enforcement agencies nationwide have nearly 30,000 unfilled vacancies," he said in prepared remarks to U.S. police chiefs.

"In 25 years of collecting data, we are now seeing the first-ever national decrease in law enforcement positions."

The report was done by the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services office, COPS.

"It underscores the critical need for departments to look at online training and distance learning," said Ron Barber, the President of In the Line of Duty, whose company has been the leading provider of reality-based law enforcement training for over 16 years.

"Instead of sending officers to expensive training, filling their slots, paying for accommodations, fees and on and on, many departments are using LOD's online training, accessible at the touch of a mouse, 24/7.  Officers can even access the training online and in their cruisers," said Barber.

He added that over 60,000 law enforcement professionals nationwide are now training via LOD's learning management system at www.lineofduty.com.

Last month, the COPS office unveiled $240 million in grants to help cities and municipalities hire or retain just over a thousand officers for three years, but budget cuts in Washington threaten to reduce federal aid for hiring.

Holder tried to rally support for President Barack Obama's jobs bill, which has $4 billion for law enforcement hiring but has gone nowhere in Congress.

The Senate has proposed $200 million and none has been allocated in the House of Representatives, he said.

"That is a drastic and unacceptable gap -- one that can't be closed without your immediate attention and assistance," Holder said.

Even with the budget cuts, FBI statistics have shown that violent crime has consistently dropped over the last four years.

The COPS report found that furloughs of sworn officers for 40 hours or more in a year would likely double this year to 6.9 percent from 3.4 percent from 2009.

Law enforcement agencies have been instituting hiring freezes and cutting travel and training to avoid layoffs, furloughs and big cuts to service.

Click on link below for the power point presentation on our new online-based training for law enforcement:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LODCrimeTime#p/a/u/0/83rv3-BTxVo

HERE'S WHY www.lineofduty.com is your law enforcement online source for training in virtually every aspect of policing:

1. What exactly is lineofduty.com?

www.lineofduty.com is  the only reality-based online site for training and educating law enforcement officers and criminal justice students. Literally hundreds of courses are offered in streaming video and virtual training, featuring real incidents, the officers involved and professional law enforcement advisers and trainers providing 'lessons learned'. Each program/course includes tests and quizzes.

2. How long is each training video?

3. What topics are covered?

4. Is lineofduty.com E-learning approved training?

Yes. Most states have approved www.lineofdutylearning.com for continuing education, accreditation and recertification. A few others have approved it for supplementary training. Six states have no training requirements, so, obviously, www.lineofduty.com can be implemented in them at will. For information on specific states, contact us at: (800) 462-5232 or, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

5. What are the costs for the online learning?

It's a flat rate of $995 which includes all instructors and officers. This gains every member of your agency 24/7 access to the largest reality-based video training library in the world.

6. Exactly what are we getting for the service?

7. What are the primary benefits of Line of Duty's E-learning service?

Tremendous cost savings. Many organizations use www.lineofduty.com as a key component of their training regimen. As opposed to sending officers halfway across the state for training, paying for meals, accommodations, filling in their positions while they're gone, etc., many LEA'S have found www.lineofduty.com a superb, cost efficient alternative. In addition, the fact it's available 24/7 is a huge plus. Access, efficiency, cost-savings.

8. Is there a money-back guarantee?

Yes. If after 30 days you feel you are not getting everything and more from your e-learning experience with us, we'll refund the balance.

9. Can we review the site before making a decision?

Absolutely. Check out the entire site for 10 days at no cost to you. Call 800-462-5232 or e-mail sales@lineofduty to find out more information.