KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Approximately 500 persons from as far away as California are expected here July 29-31 for the first conference of the Southeastern Community Oriented Policing Education (SCOPE)Institute.
Joseph E. Brann, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, will be one of four lead speakers at the conference.
In 1994 Brann was given the task by President Bill Clinton of advancing community policing nationally and putting 100,000 additional police on the street by the year 2000.
Focus of the conference will be strategies for sustaining and further developing community oriented policing.
”It’s a regional conference, but we will have people from as far away as California,” said Tim Carpenter, SCOPE program director. ”We are expecting about 500 participants.”
Other lead speakers are Dr. Karen L. Spencer, an authority on adult learning in law enforcement from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.; Reuben M. Greenberg, chief of the Charleston, S.C., Police Department and author of ”Taking Back Our Streets” ; and Phil E. Keith, chief of the Knoxville Police Department, which has earned national accreditation and is a demonstration site for community policing.
The conference will be attended by decision makers in law enforcement and local government; community leaders interested in improved relations with law enforcement; persons responsible for community oriented policing; managers, supervisors, and planners in local government; educators and trainers in law enforcement-related subjects or organizational development; and law enforcement officers.
Sponsors include the SCOPE partners: the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service, Knoxville Police Department, Metropolitan Drug Commission, and the justice department.
Co-sponsors include the Carolinas Institute for Community Policing, Charlotte, N.C.; Georgia Regional Community Policing Institute, Kennesaw, Ga.; North Florida Community Policing Institute, Gainesville, Fla.; and the St. Petersburg Regional Community Policing Institute, St. Petersburg, Fla.
A conference fee of $85 covers all materials, two meals, refreshments, and hotel room accommodations. Seminar fees are pre-paid by the SCOPE Institute through a U.S. Department of Justice grant.
SCOPE’s area of responsibility includes Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.