Woodstock Police Featured in Annual Photo Contest

WOODSTOCK, GA -- The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is featuring the Woodstock Police Department as its Community Policing in Action photo contest winner for the month of November.

The winning photo was captured by Darleen Prem of Woodstock-based Darleen Prem Photography in May 2015, and shows officer Keith McGaw escorting Chester Reeve during what would be his last Memorial Day service.

Reeve died just days following the city's event.

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 2016 contest garnered more than 300 photos, submitted by more than 200 agencies during the one-month submission period. The COPS Office selected 12 winning photos to feature monthly and announced them in January of this year.

Led by Director Ronald Davis, the COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide.

Since 1995, It 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 more than 129,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance.

For additional information about the COPS Office, visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.

Photo: Woodstock officer Keith McGaw escorts the late Chester Reeve, a World War II veteran, during the 2015 Memorial Day ceremony at the Park at City Center. Credit: Darleen Prem