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Publications

COPS publishes a wide range of community policing resources. The COPS Office works with some of the most innovative and respected names in law enforcement to develop publications designed to help with many aspects of community policing, as well as specific problem-oriented studies. From enterprise-level organizational issues to problems like stamping out graffiti, COPS publications can offer insights and experiences from others in the field. Please take a moment to browse through them, and download as many as you like.

2003 Methamphetamine Environmental Assessment
An Evaluation of the COPS Office Methamphetamine Initiative: This COPS-funded evaluation conducted by the Institute for Law and Justice and 21st Century Solutions evaluates COPS’ first six methamphetamine grants. The COPS Office provided funding to six agencies (Phoenix, AZ; Salt Lake City, UT; Dallas, TX; Oklahoma City, OK; Little Rock, AR; Minneapolis, MN) to combat the production, distribution, and use of meth. These meth grants encouraged law enforcement agencies to respond to meth problems with advanced technologies and creative problem-solving strategies. This evaluation focuses on the histories of the meth problems in these cities and includes detailed process evaluations of each grant’s implementation. This report provides insight into the ways in which these agencies responded to their meth problems and should be of great interest to those dealing with similar drug problems in their jurisdictions.
Attorney General´s Report to Congress: This report highlights the accomplishments of the COPS Office from 1994-2000.
Bringing Victims into Community Policing: This publication focuses on the role of crime victims in advancing community policing. It includes “first responder” guides to dealing with victims, a “model” policy for the prevention of repeat victimization, and the benefits of developing relationships between the police, crime victims, and victim organizations.
Building a 3-1-1 System (Austin Case Study)
Building a 3-1-1 System (Austin Evaluation)
Call Management and Community Policing: A Guidebook for Law Enforcement focuses on police call management strategies and how they affect community policing today. This guidebook looks at the direct relationship between community policing and managing calls for service effectively, and includes practical examples from police departments around the country.
Community Policing in Action! A Practitioner’s-Eye View of Organizational Change: Law enforcement agencies are traditionally reluctant to reexamine processes that have proven effective, but what if there’s a better way? This document focuses on nine agencies determined to reorient their organizations around the principles of community policing. It details the challenges they faced in implementing a variety of organizational change projects, and collects the lessons they learned.
Community Policing Keeps America Safe - Brochure
Community Policing, Community Justice And Restorative Justice: This publication examines the linkages between community policing, community justice, and restorative justice philosophies. Clarifying these links is essential to developing a more coherent response to crime and public safety issues in a free society. COPS funded the development of the Toolbox For Implementing Restorative Justice and Advancing Community Policing to complement this monograph.
Connecting the Dots: Community policing is an important resource for preparing for and responding to acts of terrorism. In the Q4 2003 issue of Border and Transportation Security magazine three COPS staffers explore how to harness the power of community policing to secure the homeland.
COPS Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary: A Ground Breaking Partnership With Local Law Enforcement Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary.
COPS Publication Resources – Brochure
Creating an Effective Stalking Protocol: Creating an Effective Stalking Protocol is designed to help law enforcement agencies improve their responses to stalking. It focuses on the need to establish collaborative partnerships with the community and to develop protocols to help law enforcement address stalking more effectively. The U.S. Department of Office Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services funded the National Center for Victims of Crime to develop and field test a Model Stalking Protocol. The Protocol was tested by the Philadelphia Police Department. This publication addresses how law enforcement agencies can implement a Model Stalking Protocol for early intervention, preventive action, and proactive problem-solving in stalking cases.
Crime Analysis in America: This is the final report of a COPS funded study conducted by the University of South Alabama concerning the nation's law enforcement crime analysis units. Researchers conducted national telephone interviews, mail surveys, and site visits in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the state of crime analysis in the United States. The researchers also provide recommendations on ways that local law enforcement agencies can enhance and develop their own crime analysis capabilities.
Crime Analysis in America: Findings and Recommendations: While crime analysts have traditionally emphasized tactical analysis activities like identifying offenders, community policing encourages more focus on strategic and problem analysis functions. This includes identifying the underlying conditions that give rise to community problems, developing responses to them that are linked to these analyses, assessing the effectiveness of responses, and developing long-term organizational operational plans. This guide is a product of the findings of a recent study conducted by the University of South Alabama documenting the state of crime analysis in the nation's law enforcement agencies. These findings and recommendations are intended to inform police managers of the structural issues to address when considering a crime analysis function within a community policing context. They are also intended to expose the current limitations of crime analysis and the policies that those findings imply.
Early Intervention Systems for Law Enforcement: This new publication explores the benefits and risks of early intervention systems. Written by professor Sam Walker, Ph.D. of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, this guidebook discusses successful early intervention systems all over the country, focusing on large agencies.
Ethics Toolkit: Enhancing Law Enforcement Ethics in a Community Policing Environment: This toolkit, a joint partnership between COPS and IACP, addresses police ethics and serves as a call to action and a resource for law enforcement agencies.
FY 2002 Grant Reports: The COPS Office makes grants to state and local law enforcement agencies to advance community policing. In FY 2002, the COPS Office awarded $720 million in grant funding. The FY 2002 Year End Report on COPS Grants details how COPS awarded those grants.
Grant Closeout Notification Toolkit
Grant Monitoring Standards and Guidelines for Hiring and Redeployment: The purpose of this Monitoring Standards Guide is to provide assistance with the monitoring, administration, and auditing of grant performance and compliance requirements. These activities help determine whether or not Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grantees are complying with their Hiring and Making Officer Redeployment Effective (MORE) grant terms and conditions. The eight compliance categories that interpret the terms and conditions for Hiring and MORE grants are: community policing; time savings for redeployment; retention; allowable costs; source of matching funds; supplanting; training special condition; and reporting.
Guide to Using School COP to Address Student Discipline Problems: This Guide is designed to help school administrators, police officers assigned to a school, and non-sworn school security staff reduce student discipline and crime problems using a new software application called the School Crime Operations Package, or School COP. School COP is designed to enable you to record and store detailed information about incidents involving student misconduct and crime.
How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: Your Reputation Depends On It!: This publication is the result of a COPS-funded project conducted by the CNA Corporation (CNAC) to help law enforcement agencies collect and analyze data. How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: Your Reputation Depends on It! is particularly timely as more and more states mandate that law enforcement agencies collect traffic stop data. As part of this project, CNAC worked with the Baltimore (MD) Police Department, the Phoenix (AZ) Police Department, the Chattanooga (TN) Police Department, and the St. Paul (MN) Police Department, all of which are highlighted in the document along with the Oakland (CA) Police Department.
Interagency Response to Domestic Violence: This study examines one city’s efforts to reduce domestic violence through the coordinated work of the city police department and a wide range of criminal justice, social services, and community agencies. This research entailed study of an inter-agency domestic violence coalition, the Domestic Violence Coordinating Committee (DVCC), as well as two separate exploratory analyses of the city police department’s domestic violence data. After presenting the methodology and literature review, the findings of this study are presented in two parts.
ISTEP: The Information Systems Technology Enhancement Project document examines the uses of information technology and its application to community policing in America. It documents the information technology planning and acquisition processes, while contrasting the various applications of the technology to community policing in five police organizations.
ISTEP II CASE STUDIES: This series of case studies continues the work started in the original Information Systems Technology Enhancement Project. Each case study examines the uses of information technology and its application to community policing in America. It documents the information technology planning and acquisition processes, while contrasting the various applications of the technology to community policing in four police organizations.
Making the Match: Law Enforcement, the Faith Community and the Value-Based Initiative: COPS began its Value-Based Initiative program in 2000, awarding grants to law enforcement agencies to partner with faith-based and other community organizations. Making the Match: Law Enforcement, the Faith Community and the Value-Based Initiative provides an in-depth look at how some of the partnerships those grants funded have come together, the challenges they have met, and the successes they have enjoyed.
Marketing Community Policing in the News: Police departments often seek to use the media to involve community members in crime prevention and problem solving, but publicizing community policing strategies is different from producing traditional crime reports. This National Institute of Justice publication describes how the relationship between the police and the media affects coverage of community policing.
Mediating Citizen Complaints Against Police Officers: A Guide For Police And Community Leaders: This guide addresses the implementation, expectations, and evaluation of police/citizen mediation programs. It addresses how to overcome obstacles to mediation such as police and citizen resistance. Key issues discussed include eligibility, cultural barriers, and creating a level playing field. The guide presents examples of successful mediation processes for communities thinking about developing a mediation program.
National Policy Summit: By some estimates, 85 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure is protected by private security. The need for coordination, staffing, and special resources after a terror attack, and the demands of crime prevention and response, require boosting the level of partnership between public policing and private security. This new IACP publication reports on a meeting of leaders in law enforcement and private security to discuss public-private cooperation and details their specific recommendations.
Policing Smarter Through IT - 5/5/2004:: A report on the first findings of a COPS-funded evaluation, conducted by Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago, of the Chicago Police Department’s Citizen and Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting (CLEAR) System examines “launch procedures” toward developing an integrated criminal justice information system powered by the CLEAR data warehouse and lessons learned on the design, development, and use of automated systems and police management applications. The Automated Incident Reporting Application (AIRA) will streamline the reporting process, provide accurate, timely information, and attain NIBRS compliance. Other police management applications include the Automated Arrest, System Crime Mapping, Digital Mugshots, eTrack (evidence tracking), Gang and Juvenile Arrest, Personnel Suite, and Automated Rap Sheet.
Policing Smarter Through IT: Lessons in Enterprise Implementation: A companion piece to Policing Smarter Through IT: Learning from Chicago’s Citizen and Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting (CLEAR) System, this report provides the reader with practical strategies and cautions to consider when developing an integrated criminal justice information system. Its process review covers issues of funding and vendor management, hardware and operating system decision-making, in-house development vs. outsourcing, physical capacity and infrastructure needs, and what to do about “scope creep” and “information silos.” Information security and privacy, ensuring user buy-in and proper training, use assessment, and other IT issues are discussed using real-life examples. The lessons learned are applicable to criminal justice organizations seeking to expand the boundaries of external and internal information sharing.
POP Center Flyer
Problem Analysis in Policing: Problem Analysis in Policing introduces and defines problem analysis and provides guidance on how problem analysis can be integrated and institutionalized into modern policing practices. The 64-page report is not a "how-to" guide on conducting problem analysis, but is a summary of what problem analysis is, what skills and knowledge are necessary to conduct it, and how it can be advanced by the law enforcement community, academia, the federal government, and other institutions. The ideas and recommendations in this report come primarily from a two-day forum conducted in February 2002 by the Police Foundation and the COPS Office that brought a group of academics, practitioners, and policy makers together to discuss problem analysis and make recommendations for its progress. This report is a culmination of the concepts and ideas discussed in the forum and includes specific, relevant statements made by participants.
Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the First 20 Years: This monograph assesses the current state of problem-oriented policing (POP), revisits the fundamental principles of Herman Goldstein’s POP framework, and reports on the successes and distortions in implementing POP over the last 20 years. It is an invaluable resource for those seeking to better understand this fundamental element of policing.
Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing Crime and Disorder through Problem-Solving Partnerships: Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing Crime and Disorder through Problem-Solving Partnerships is intended to serve as a reference for those in all stages of implementing the problem-solving approach. The guide contains insights into every stage of the process, most of which are drawn from the experience of law enforcement officers in the field. This guide relies on the SARA model: scanning, analyzing, response, and assessment of problems.
PROTECTING YOUR COMMUNITY FROM TERRORISM Volume 1, Local-Federal Partnerships: This is the first in a series on Protecting Your Community From Terrorism: Strategies for Local Law Enforcement. This PERF white paper funded by the COPS Office is based in large part on an unprecedented executive session in November 2002 that brought together chief law enforcement executives, FBI Special Agents in Charge and antiterrorist experts, and other leading thinkers on how law enforcement will deal with the new terrorist threat. It was a no-holds-barred meeting in which candid debates were conducted on such issues as how to promote effective partnerships; security clearances and information sharing; joint terrorism task forces; FBI strategies; intelligence; multijurisdictional information sharing; and training and awareness. The result is more than 50 recommendations detailed in this paper-set largely by consensus and an urgent desire to move our preparedness and response forward in these difficult times.
PROTECTING YOUR COMMUNITY FROM TERRORISM Volume 2, Working with Diverse Communities: This is the second in a series on Protecting Your Community From Terrorism: Strategies for Local Law Enforcement. This PERF white paper is the result of a compelling executive session in June 2003 sponsored by the COPS Office which brought together law enforcement chief executives, diverse community leaders and advocates, and federal law enforcement officials. The report details myriad recommendations for how law enforcement and minority communities can better work together to protect against future terrorist attacks, prevent backlash violence against vulnerable groups, and sensitize officers to cultural issues that can affect interviewing and information sharing.
PROTECTING YOUR COMMUNITY FROM TERRORISM Volume 3, Preparing for and Responding to Bioterrorism: This report discusses the relative threats of various biological and chemical agents and the response challenges for first responders. The chapters cover five critical areas involved in preparing for and responding to a bioterrorist event: detecting a biological attack, notifying the proper first responders, intervening and working with other stakeholders, managing health care surge demands, and maintaining communication among all involved agencies and the public.
Reducing Theft at Construction Sites: Lessons from a Problem-Oriented Project: This publication describes a problem-oriented policing project by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department addressing theft of appliances at construction sites. A detailed analysis of security practices and risks of theft was made for 25 builders operating in one of the police service districts. This publication reviews the difficulties encountered by police in undertaking problem-oriented projects, focuses on the vital role of crime analysis, and considers ways to strengthen analytic capacity in police departments.
Reservists Called Up?: If your agency has questions regarding COPS-funded officers who have been called up for active military duty, please review these Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Reservists Called Up for Active Duty.
Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety Problems: Case Studies in Problem-Solving: This compilation provides detailed descriptions of nearly 50 problem-oriented policing efforts dealing with a wide-variety of specific crime and social disorder problems. Editor’s notes are included after each section detailing the noteworthy aspects of each effort.
The COPS Collaboration Toolkit: How to Build, Fix, and Sustain Productive Partnerships: This toolkit provides practical guidance to law enforcement agencies as they develop and sustain partnerships that support community policing. The toolkit will benefit law enforcement personnel, community-based organizations, educators, youth, government officials, and others seeking to combine efforts to reduce crime and social disorder problems.
The COPS Commitment to School Safety Fact Sheet
The Law Enforcement Tech Guide: How to plan, purchase and manage technology (successfully!): The Law Enforcement Tech Guide presents best practices in strategic IT planning and procurement, reveals pitfalls to avoid, and consolidates and expands upon various sources of relevant information currently available. The Guide reviews best practices to help create a user-friendly product that will provide law enforcement with the tools they need to successfully achieve their IT goals. Contact the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 800.421.6770 to obtain hard copies.
Theft from Cars in Center City Parking Facilities - A Case Study: This publication describes a problem-oriented policing project designed to reduce thefts from cars parked in the center city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Police analyzed the risks of theft and the associated security features for all of the parking facilities in the center city. This analysis showed that risks of theft were much greater in lots than in decks and that higher risks of theft in lots were associated with inadequate fencing, poor lighting, and the absence of attendants. The publication discusses the difficulties encountered by police in undertaking problem-oriented projects and ways to help them meet these difficulties.
Toolbox For Implementing Restorative Justice and Advancing Community Policing: This toolkit provides essential guidance for agencies and individuals seeking to implement restorative justice programs and advance community policing. COPS funded the development of this toolkit to complement the Community Policing, Community Justice and Restorative Justice monograph.
Turning Necessity into Virtue: The Justice Department for the first time used its power to sue a city over a “pattern or practice” of policing that violated federal law or the U.S. Constitution in 1997. The department entered into a five-year consent degree with the city of Pittsburgh that police officials and civil rights groups generally view as a success in terms of increasing police accountability and improving officer training. This report, funded by the COPS Office and produced by the Vera Institute of Justice, examines specific elements of the Pittsburgh experience that helped to bring the police department into compliance with the decree, such as a strong implementation committee and an early-warning system that could identify officers in need of corrective supervision, and highlights issues that require continued attention, such as community relations and employee morale. This publication provides a helpful case study for other law enforcement agencies.
Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guide Book for Law Enforcement: This Guide provides law enforcement practitioners with a resource for conducting problem analysis. It summarizes many challenges of the analysis phase of the problem-solving process. This book builds on the foundation presented in Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing Crime and Disorder Through Problem-Solving Partnerships, and complements the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Series. The Guide also identifies tools for analysis and proposes tips for effectively using each tool.