In 1976, a group of law enforcement leaders met to discuss the current and potential uses of information technology. At that time its use in policing was limited—as it was in many other professions—to large organizations that used it for only administrative functions like payroll management.

This modest meeting had a greater impact than these law enforcement leaders could have predicted—it launched the Law Enforcement Information Management Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), later renamed the Law Enforcement Information Technology (LEIT) Section. The LEIT Section now has more than 500 members, including police chiefs, IT professionals, and operational managers from agencies of varying sizes and jurisdictions around the world. The LEIT Section will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2026, so it’s fitting to reflect on its contributions to policing and technology.

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