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Along with firearms, radio and other standard-issue gear, Constable Ken Koke’s police cruiser comes equipped with portable technology made by Research In Motion Ltd. that he says has become an important tool in policing rural Canada.

Koke, with the Chatham-Kent police force in southwestern Ontario, uses RIM’s PlayBook to run checks on vehicles and suspects. Unlike his old laptop, the tablet is portable enough to take out of the car to record evidence at crime scenes.

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But for law enforcement officers like Koke, the big draw is RIM’s acclaimed network security, a feature that Apple Inc. and RIM’s other competitors can barely match, and cannot beat — at least not yet.

‘Despite the adversity and displacement RIM is experiencing … a hardcore contingent still see no solution better than BlackBerry’

Police, along with insurers, the military and thousands of government agencies, remain important customers for the struggling BlackBerry maker as a data breach could invite litigation, compromise reputations or even endanger national security.