The Birmingham Division continues to be actively involved in community affairs and youth programs throughout the Northern District of Alabama. COP personnel serve on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Peer Helpers Association and attended the Fourth Annual Alabama Peer Helpers Association Conference. The purpose of the Conference was to provide training for counselors who are involved in peer-helping services, which are located throughout the United States.
Two years ago the Birmingham Division, in conjunction with representatives from the American Association of Retired Persons, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Alabama Attorney General's Office, established a crime-prevention program for senior citizens centered around fraudulent telemarketing and mail fraud. This educational program continues to be well-received and has reached an estimated 5,000 people in the Northern District of Alabama. Because of the tremendous success of the program, the Division's COP personnel were invited by the Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Housing and Community Affairs, and the Fraud and Prohibitive Mailing Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to conduct a workshop on fraud prevention.
The Birmingham Division is a major contributor to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Drug Store Program. The purpose of this program is to allow students the opportunity to receive drug education on the full scope of legal and illegal drug use, while highlighting illicit drug use and abuse consequences. The program is unique in that it is operated by university personnel, police officers, FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Customs, federal prosecutors, judges, doctors, nurses, substance abuse counselors, and teachers.
Birmingham's Community Outreach Coordinator serves on the Board of Director's for the Alabama Red Ribbon Coalition and the Alabama Crime Prevention Network. This network is a branch of the National Crime Prevention Council. The Network provides crime prevention and drug education conferences for local, county, state, and federal agencies. It further serves as a conduit of information and educational materials for local crime prevention officers throughout the state of Alabama.
The Birmingham Division continues to incorporate the drug-demand reduction message into the scheduled tours of the office, where the most frequent tour groups are local schools, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts.
