Communities Organized for Public Service

Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) is a coalition of non-partisan, grassroots community pressure groups based in San Antonio, Texas. It is an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), a group dedicated to grassroots community organizing that was developed by Saul Alinsky in Chicago during the 1930s. Founded in 1974, COPS’ mission is to secure specific, concrete standard of living improvements for neighborhoods traditionally neglected by city leaders.^[1] Though advocating primarily for the interests of lower-middle class and working class Mexican-Americans on the city’s west and south sides, COPS avoids the label of civil rights organization, instead projecting itself as an agent for fair and equitable distribution of city resources and services. COPS success in this endeavor to date is remarkable, amounting to over one billion dollars in group-sponsored projects and initiatives.^[2]

Goals and Methods

One of its stated aims is to create give and take relationships between diverse interest groups in the greater community that can lead to the realization of goals defined within discrete neighborhoods. On the other hand, relational organizing leads to initiatives that benefit the larger community, such as economic development, aquifer protection, infrastructure development, and improvement of educational opportunities. Inherent in this process is the development of local leaders, who work to express the values and interests of the membership. The role of IAF and COPS organizers is to identify natural community leaders and stimulate their growth. In this sense, COPS and the IAF represent an impulse for the practice of genuine democratic participation in the American political system.^[3]

Membership and Tactics

C.O.P.S. members typically present as social conservatives, professing deep beliefs in family, community, and religion. However, their actions, especially in the early days of the organization, were often confrontational. On numerous occasions, they faced off with the city council, other politicians or functionaries, and business leaders to demand that these mainly Anglo elites address the group’s concerns. C.O.P.S. organizers carefully planned the actions for effect and insured that media was present to witness the events.^[4] As C.O.P.S. achieved success in its initiatives and gained access to political power, it modified its tactics, preferring to approach city and business leaders in a less dramatic fashion. However, one feature of C.O.P.S. methods that remains is the accountability session, in which the group confronts local politicians and holds them to account for their failure or success in keeping promises.^[5]

Footnotes

1. ^ Booth, John A.; David R. Johnson and Richard J. Harris. The Politics of San Antonio : Community, Progress, & Power. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 195. ISBN 0803211783. 
2. ^ Mark Warren, Dry Bones Rattling, 3-4
3. ^ Mark Warren, Dry Bones Rattling, 51
4. ^ The Decolonization of a City
5. ^ The San Antonio COPS Revolution

References

• Booth, John A. "Political Change in San Antonio, 1970-82: Toward Decay or Democracy?", in The Politics of San Antonio: Community, Progress, and Power. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983. ISBN 0-8032-6068-7
• Rogers, Mary Beth. Cold Anger: A Story of Faith and Power Politics. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1990. ISBN 0-929398-13-0
• Sandoval, Moises. "The Decolonization of a City." http://aliciapatterson.org/APF001977/Sandoval/Sandoval04/Sandoval04.html
• Vazquez, Roberto. "The COPS Revolution." http://lared-latina.com/cops.htm
• Warren, Mark. Dry Bones Rattling: Community Building to Revitalize American Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-691-07432-1

External links

The University of Texas at San Antonio houses a collection of news clippings, project files, reports, budgets, programs and general office files for C.O.P.S.