WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is pleased to announce that the Marietta (GA) Police Department (MPD) is featured as its March “Community Policing in Action” photo contest winner.

The winning photo features MPD Training Sergeant Dave Collins and Marietta Middle School student Tristan Eastham playing with Bandit, the puppet raccoon, during a picnic in the park. Also featured are Marietta Middle School Resource Officer Matt Arrington and Community Outreach Sergeant Ben Mixon.

To learn more about the Marietta Police Department’s community policing approach and to read an interview with Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn, visit the COPS Office e-newsletter, the Community Policing Dispatch. To view the winning photo, visit the COPS Office website, Twitter, and Facebook pages. Photo courtesy of the Marietta Police Department.

The COPS Office piloted the photo contest in 2015 to highlight positive community policing efforts across the country. After receiving an overwhelming number of submissions, the COPS Office made the photo contest an annual event. The 2017 contest garnered close to 200 photos during the one-month submission period. To learn more about the “Community Policing in Action” Photo Contest, visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/photocontest.

The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since 1995, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of approximately 129,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance. For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.