COPS envied, worth saving

Spokane Community Oriented Policing Services, a nonprofit 501(c) 3 program, was initiated 21 years ago. Two young girls were abducted and murdered in the neighborhood west of the Spokane County Courthouse and Public Safety Building. This area is notoriously called “Felony Flats” and “The Zone” by some police officers and residents alike.

The tragic homicides, subsequent investigation, and finally discovery one of the victims rallied the community to be more active in the prevention of crime in their neighborhood. A partnership was forged with the Spokane Police Department and evolved to form a model, the nationally acclaimed COPS program.

This program is envied by numerous law enforcement agencies and law enforcement executives. Our COPS program volunteers logged 40,000 hours in 2010, and continue to be the eyes and ears for the police in neighborhoods that have COPS shops.

Go to spokanecops.org to realize the diamond-in-the-rough few communities have, and support the volunteers’ efforts to assist the police preventing crime and improving our quality of life in Spokane.

Michael Yates

Spokane