The Center for Law Enforcement Technology, Training, & Research (LETTR) is a Florida, not-for-profit corporation. LETTR was formed in September 2007 by the University of Central Florida and members of the Florida Law Enforcement Data Sharing Consortium to consolidate the intellectual property and other resources associated with FINDER, the Florida Integrated Network for Data Exchange and Retrieval. FINDER is a set of computer applications that enable automated information sharing between police agencies.

 

FINDER dates to 2002 when several Florida law enforcement agencies and the University joined forces to form the Data Sharing Consortium, a non-incorporated association. In-kind contributions by Consortium members and University faculty and staff were combined with a hodgepodge of funding from Consortium agencies, Congress, and the Florida Legislature permitted FINDER to be built by its end users: law enforcement officers and analysts. 

 

This variety of entities and individuals provided critical resources and skills to conceptualize, build, and implement FINDER. Its organizational structure and software was successful beyond expectations and generated interest from law enforcement agencies across the nation. Many agencies inquired as to how they could adopt FINDER for their local or regional use.

The interest in propagating FINDER to other states illuminated vagaries in the rights to FINDER as Intellectual Property (IP). Its collaborative and grassroots beginnings made it difficult to establish who “owned” the FINDER software.  Other agencies and law enforcement networks were concerned about investing in FINDER without assurance that it was free from IP-related encumbrances.