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**U.S. Department of Justice**        Office of Community Oriented Policing Services            145 N Street, N.E.       Washington, DC 20530      www.cops.usdoj.gov×         Menu         - Home
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**December Photo Contest Winner:            Charleston (SC) Police Department Goes Back to School**
 December 2019 | Volume 12 | Issue 11

The Charleston (South Carolina) Police Department (CPD) is  engaged in some hard learning. The 2015 shooting of Walter Scott (who was  unarmed at the time) by a uniformed officer in North Charleston made  international news and resulted in numerous investigations by federal, state,  local, and nongovernmental organizations and resulted in the conviction of the  officer. However, rather than declare “case closed,” Charleston dug deeper. On  December 18, 2018, “Mayor Tecklenburg and the City Council voted . . . to allow  the Charleston Police Department to hire an external company to examine [the] CPD’s  policies and procedures in the following topic areas: (1) use of force, (2) traffic  stops and field contacts, (3) internal and external complaints, (4) recruitment  and hiring, and (5) community engagement.”1 The final report, which was released in November 2019, is the second item on  the CPD website; it is easy to find and easy to read. For a community in the  process of healing, transparency such as this is an essential step.

		    The report also highlights the community policing practices  in Charleston: “The department has established community action teams (CAT),  developed training curricula, and collected data on community engagement. Some  of the CPD’s engagement activities include attending neighborhood meetings and  hosting events, such as Camp Hope, a summer program that provides at-risk youth  the opportunity to build relationships with CPD officers.”2 One of the recommendations in the report is relationship-building with youth, a  suggestion the department appears to be taking seriously. The photo is from the  2018 “Cocoa with a Cop” event at the St. Andrews School of Math and Science.  The photographer catches Master Police Officer Nikolaus Holum mid–high  five with a student. For a city determined to shine a light on its tragedies,  it seems like an excellent effort.

Sarah Estill              Social Science Analyst

References:     1. “Racial  Bias Audit,” Charleston SC, accessed December 9, 2019, https://www.charleston-sc.gov/2250/Racial-Bias-Audit.    
2. Denise  Rodriguez et al., *Final Report: Racial  Bias Audit of the Charleston, South Carolina, Police Department* (Arlington,  VA: CNA, 2019), https://www.charleston-sc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25213/CNA-CPD-Final-Report---11719. 

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The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

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