The Community Policing in Action Photo Contest is back! Since 2014, the COPS Office has invited law enforcement agencies to submit photos showing creative community policing moments including the law enforcement community and the public. Each year we have received a plethora of inspired images that convey how agencies across the nation engage with and positively impact the communities they serve. The COPS Office is excited to continue the tradition and provide this platform for law enforcement agencies to share these uplifting connections with their communities.

Contest Interview

State, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies are invited to submit one photo that reflects the agency’s positive community engagement and trust building with community members, stakeholders, local government, and others.

Submissions will be accepted through Tuesday, November 2, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

The COPS Office will select 12 winning photos to be featured on the COPS Office website and its Twitter and Facebook headers for one month each during the 2022 calendar year. The winners will also be featured in this newsletter, the Community Policing Dispatch, as well as in a COPS Office–issued press release. There is no cash award or other prize for this photo contest. The complete contest Rules, Terms, and Conditions and Frequently Asked Questions can be found on our website.

How to Enter a Complete Submission

The following is a brief overview on how to enter a complete submission:

1. Select or snap a photo that best conveys your agency’s “community policing in action.”
• Please note that horizontal (also called landscape-oriented) images are preferred.
2. Fill out the following mandatory forms:*
• Permission and Release to Law Enforcement Agencies Form for the image.
• Privacy Consent, Waiver, and Release Authorizing Use and Disclosure of Photographic Image Form(s) for each recognizable individual.
  *Submissions will not be accepted without the Permission and Release form and the Privacy Consent, Waiver, and Release form(s).
3. Include a brief description of the photo and how it reflects your department’s positive community engagement.
4. Email in your complete submission by 8:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.

Please read all contest Rules, Terms, and Conditions carefully before submitting your photo entry.

About the Forms

The legal forms must be included in your agency’s submission for the photo to be included in the contest.

• Permission and Release to Law Enforcement Agencies Form: The Permission and Release Form must be signed by the law enforcement agency. The form certifies that the agency secured all Photograph Consent, Waiver, and Release forms for all recognizable individuals, and the form grants the DOJ a license to use the photo for Federal Government purposes.
• Privacy Consent, Waiver, and Release Authorizing Use and Disclosure of Photographic Image Form(s): The Privacy Consent, Waiver, and Release Form must be signed by each recognizable individual in the photo. The form contains required Privacy Act consent provisions and authorizes the DOJ to use the individual’s image for Federal Government purposes.

Please see our contest Rules, Terms, and Conditions for more important details about the forms.

For updates on the contest, please subscribe to COPS Office email notifications and follow us Facebook and Twitter. Email tellcops@usdoj.gov for any questions.

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