COPS Office 20th Anniversary - Part Two

On November 12th, twenty years after President Clinton signed the 1994 Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act establishing the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), Attorney General Eric Holder praised the office’s accomplishments in a ceremony marking the anniversary.

Speaking from the dais in the Main Hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, DC, Attorney General Holder addressed an audience which included the present and former directors of the COPS Office and leaders from Congress, the Justice Department, and law enforcement, as well as COPS Office employees, many of whom have supported the community policing program from its inception.

Remarking upon the fact that both crime and incarceration rates are declining together for the first time in 40 years, the Attorney General said “This is a signal achievement in which everyone here can take tremendous pride. And these promising trends verify what we already know to be true about community policing: that closer community ties and deeper community engagement have the power to reduce crime by building trust, mutual respect, and strong cooperation.”

Following the Attorney General’s address, the four former directors of the COPS Office – Joseph Brann (1994-99), Thomas Frazier (1999-2001), Carl Peed (2001-09), and Bernard Melekian (2009-13) – joined the present director, Ronald Davis in a panel discussion moderated by George Mason Professor and former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, Laurie Robinson. The panel discussed the past, present, and future of community policing and the COPS Office including topics surrounding the inception of the COPS Office and each Director’s priorities, the progress of community policing both through the evolution of the Office and the progress in the field; and the future of the COPS Office and the advancement of community policing.