WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is pleased to feature the Arlington (MA) Police Department as its “Community Policing in Action” photo contest winner during January 2017.

The winning photo features Officer Jessica Scearbo helping an Arlington resident learn how to use her iPhone. What the photo does not reveal is that the resident’s out-of-town relatives gave her the phone to stay in contact with her. When they could not reach her, they became worried and contacted the police. When Officer Scearbo arrived, the woman appeared to be fine but shared that her phone would not complete calls. Officer Scearbo realized that the woman did not know how to use the phone and spent some extra time with her to make sure she learned how to use it.

See the photo on the COPS Office website, Twitter, and Facebook, and read the corresponding article in the COPS Office e-newsletter, the Community Policing Dispatch (photo courtesy of the Arlington 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://www.cops.usdoj.gov/photocontest.

The COPS Office, headed by Director Ronald Davis, 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.