The L. Anthony Sutin Civic Imagination Award is an annual honor bestowed upon a collaborative team of law enforcement and community members whose innovative civic interactions have transformed public safety in their community. Nominations are now being accepted through October 23, 2017 for the annual award and will be given to a team of two or more individuals involved in a high impact collaboration that may involve a single project or a pattern of transformative projects that best exemplifies community policing and contributes to violent crime reduction.

The ideal nominee team for this award:

• Creates sustainable collaborations that are innovative, creative, and transformative;
• Displays civic leadership through problem solving and collaborative partnerships;
• Institutionalizes sustainable, positive, observable public safety outcomes;
• Promotes public safety through dedication to the community policing philosophy; and
• Deploys community policing strategies to contribute to the reduction of violent crime such as human trafficking, gun crime, drug trafficking, and gang violence, which can be replicated in similar jurisdictions.

In 2016, Lt. Tarrick McGuire of the Arlington (TX) Police Department and Ms. Inelda Acosta of Workman Junior High School (Arlington Texas) won for collaborating on the Mentoring Arlington Youth (MAY) Program. The 18-month program began as an idea of Lt. Tarrick McGuire as an opportunity to serve young African-American and Hispanic male students in the seventh and eighth grades. Through interactive workshops on leadership, team building, education and career development, along with community service-learning modules, the MAY Program helps to foster relationships between youth and positive adult role models.

The 2017 L. Anthony Sutin Civic Imagination Award will recognize the efforts of collaborative partnerships within the community. This award will be bestowed upon a team of law enforcement and community members whose innovative civic interactions have transformed public safety and contributed to violent crime reduction in their community. Nominees are those actively engaged with the community in a multifaceted manner that has been sustained over time and has produced positive, observable public safety outcomes and while contributing to reductions in violent crime such as human trafficking, gun crime, drug trafficking, and gang violence.

The L. Anthony Sutin Civic Imagination Award is named in memory of Tony Sutin, who served as a founder and deputy director of the COPS Office from its creation in 1994 until 1996. A distinguished graduate from Harvard Law School and former partner of the law firm Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C., Tony was widely known and respected for his tremendous commitment to service and community. It is with great admiration and respect for Tony’s many contributions to the COPS Office and dedication to the principles of community policing that the COPS Office names this award in his memory.

To nominate a team or to learn more about the award, visit L. Anthony Sutin Civic Imagination Award.  

Nominations must be sent via e-mail to SutinAward@usdoj.gov (ATTN: Sarah Estill) by October 23rd at 5:00 PM EST.

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