COMMUNITY POLICING PHOTO CONTEST: The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has announced the seventh annual “Community Policing in Action” Photo Contest. This widely anticipated contest launched in 2014 as a way to provide law enforcement agencies the opportunity to share photos of positive interactions with the communities they serve.

All state, local, territorial and tribal law enforcement agencies are invited to submit a photo that captures a spirited community policing moment for the opportunity to be featured on the COPS Office website, and its Twitter and Facebook headers, for one month during the 2021 calendar year. Each winning law enforcement agency may also be featured in the COPS Office e-newsletter, the Community Policing Dispatch.

The photo should reflect positive engagement that promotes community policing and trust building with community members, stakeholders, local government, and others. While photos may include community members of all ages, we highly encourage photos depicting interactions with adults due to privacy concerns with photos of minors (please see the website for important details regarding photos of minors).

Select or snap a photo that best conveys your agency’s “community policing in action.” Please note that horizontal, high quality images are preferred.

Fill out the required Permission and Release to Law Enforcement Agencies Form, as well as the required Privacy Consent, Waiver, and Release Authorizing Use and Disclosure of Photographic Image Forms for each recognizable individual.

Submissions without these forms may not be entered to the contest.

Write a brief description of the photo and how it reflects your department’s positive community engagement.

Email submissions with completed forms to tellcops@usdoj.gov by 8 PM EST on Nov. 16, 2020.

Winners will be notified no later than December 28, 2020, via email.