Nicole Pekarek Nicole Pekarek began her career in Law Enforcement in 2006 with the Kingsburg Police Department in California. During her time there she was assigned to units such as: Narcotics, School Resource Officer, Field Training Officer, Firearms Instructor, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), and Detective. In 2014, Nicole was hired with the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office where she was assigned to various units such as: Welfare Fraud, Worker’s Compensation Fraud and Agricultural Crimes. She also trained investigators in firearms as a Range Safety/Training Officer and completed the agency-wide Principled Policing course. In 2023, Nicole moved to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office where she was assigned to Agricultural Crimes and a firearms instructor. Aside from her sworn duties in various agencies, Nicole has also been involved with the California Rural Crimes Prevention Task Force since 2021. Starting as a board member and now the President, Nicole has dedicated an immense amount of time to the continuing success and mission of the task force. In 2022, Nicole began to facilitate the annual Rural Crime School, a 5-day course designed for patrol officers, investigators, crime prevention personnel and individuals in fields related to agricultural crimes to develop expertise in rural crime in California. Nicole has also spearheaded the promotion and use of the California Owner Applied Number program, which was started in the late 1990s to boost the program’s usage with citizens in California to assist law enforcement with combating equipment thefts and returning found equipment and property to its rightful owner.