NOW OPEN:
The 2025 L. Anthony Sutin Award for Innovative Law Enforcement and Community Partnerships submission window is open and accepting nominations until September 30, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to the CP Dispatch, the COPS Office e-newsletter, to learn about current news on awards and projects.
The L. Anthony Sutin Award for Innovative Law Enforcement and Community Partnerships recognizes the efforts of innovative and sustained law enforcement and community partnerships whose unique collaborations have transformed public safety in their communities. This award is bestowed on those partnerships in which law enforcement is actively engaged with the community in a multifaceted manner that has been sustained over time and has resulted in positive, observable public safety outcomes or advances in public trust.
![](/themes/base_zymphonies_theme/images/anthony_sutton/banner.jpg)
History of the Award
The L. Anthony Sutin Award for Innovative Law Enforcement and Community Partnerships 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, when he became the Principal Deputy to the Associate Attorney General of the United States. He then served as acting Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs before joining the faculty of the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia, in 1999. He quickly became dean and served in that capacity until his untimely death on January 16, 2002.
A distinguished graduate of Harvard Law School and former partner of the law firm Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C., Tony was widely known and respected for his brilliant intellect, quiet wit, and tremendous commitment to service and community. It is with great admiration and respect for Tony’s many contributions to the COPS Office and the principles of community policing that the COPS Office has named this award in his memory.
Nominations
The award recognizes the efforts of collaborative partnerships that have transformed public safety in their community through their interactions. Ideal nominees are actively engaged within their community in a multifaceted manner that has resulted in positive, observable public safety outcomes. Teams must consist of at least one law enforcement officer, who must be an officer in a state, local, or tribal law enforcement agency, and one community member.
The ideal nominee team for this award
- creates collaborations that are innovative, creative, and transformative;
- demonstrates sustainability and institutionalization of efforts;
- develops partnerships that involve relevant stakeholders in the community;
- produces positive observable public safety outcomes;
- promotes public safety through a dedication to the community policing philosophy.
The award will be open for nominations until September 30, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Please send a completed nomination form and narrative to SutinAward@usdoj.gov.
Direct all general inquiries to Sarah Estill and LaToshia Butler at SutinAward@usdoj.gov.
Awardees of the L. Anthony Sutin Award for Innovative Law Enforcement and Community Partnerships
2024
- COPS Office Announces Recipients of 2024 L. Anthony Sutin Award for Innovative Law Enforcementand Community Partnerships
- Sutin Awards: Lancaster County Partnership Tackles Substance Abuse Among Youth
- Sutin Awards: Macomb County Builds a Better Detention Center
2021
2018
- St. Cloud (Minnesota) Police Department and the Greater St. Cloud Public Safety Foundation
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Police Department and Promise Youth Development