As part of a national partnership to combat heavy-equipment theft, the American Rental Association and the National Equipment Register will be offering heavy-equipment identification training for law enforcement officers during The Rental Show, Feb. 6-9, in Orlando, Fla. Insurance estimates indicate that a significant percentage of the estimated $1 billion of stolen equipment each year is rental equipment.

Officers who attend the free training will benefit from an interactive classroom session and hands-on examination of the equipment on exhibit by vendors at the show. The class was offered for the first time in February 2005 with more than 50 officers from around the country participating.

The second annual ARA Insurance Services/NER Award will be presented at The Rental Show. The award was established to highlight heavy-equipment theft recovery and the hard work of law enforcement personnel to prevent theft and recover this equipment. The award recognizes a single law enforcement officer or agent who has “performed exceptional service to the rental industry through the recovery of rental equipment or through theft-prevention initiatives.”

The recipient will be honored at The Rental Show during a special ceremony, be given a commemorative plaque and a $1,000 grant will be awarded to the recipient’s department to aid in equipment-theft investigations. The recipient also will receive complimentary travel and accommodations to the event.

Nominations for the ARA Insurance Services/NER Award are being accepted through Dec. 31, 2005. Send nominations to Glen Sider, NER operations manager, by email at gsider@nerusa.com.

Law enforcement officers interested in registering for the free training at The Rental Show should also contact Glen Sider.

The National Equipment Register was established in 2001 to increase the recovery rate of stolen farm and construction equipment by improving the volume, quality and availability of information available to law enforcement investigating suspicious equipment. NER has developed national databases of equipment ownership (12 million records) and theft (80,000 records) and provides this information and equipment identification advice to police 24 hours-a-day. For more information about NER log onto www.NERusa.com.