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.[1][2][3][4][5][6] 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 through relational organizing.[7]

Though advocating primarily for the interests of lower-middle class and working classMexican-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 equitabledistribution of city resources and services. COPS had many different leaders throughout the years but even women have run this organization which back in the day was unheard of. Many women of diverse communities didn't speak up on actions that affected their communities so COPS was a way for them to be vocal outside of their comfort zones which was church. COPS success in this endeavor to date isremarkable, amounting to over one billion dollars in group-sponsored projects andinitiatives.[8]

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.[9] Saul Alinsky the creator of IAF believed in creating organizations to help better the community and it's involvement by uniting them with a common issue they dealt with throughout their lives. That creates more involvement within the community because more people are likely to come together to join and conquer whatever problem they face. Alinsky is known to be the secret holder to successful organizations through his tactics because many organizations he has created are still existing till this day.

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. Back at the beginning days of COPS if you did not agree with what the Catholic church's beliefs you were frowned upon. Mexican American religion is very catholic based but this is a time they had a change to speak and make actions and that is why they put the church beliefs to the side. 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.[10] This has to be because they had many different people in charge and many different leaders and so without just one they just went based off one strong organizer and that is why they were able to stay afloat. They would help greatly with the neighborhood problems also which you would not have known they were very broad in a sense. They helped pave streets to keep the people from getting hurt. They helped in many neighborhoods where it was very Mexican American based and so that is how they were able to advocate and come together for the desperate need of a better neighborhood and the basic rights of getting someone to pave their streets. 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.[11]

Footnotes
  1. McCarthy, John D.; Reitzes, Donald C.; Reitzes, Dietrich C. (January 1989). "The Alinsky Legacy: Alive and Kicking". Contemporary Sociology. 18 (1): 46. doi:10.2307/2071926. ISSN 0094-3061. JSTOR 2071926.
  2. Villareal, Roberto E. (1985). "Reviewed work: The Politics of San Antonio: Community, Progress and Power, David R. JOHNSON, John BOOTH, Richard J. HARRIS". Social Science Quarterly. 66 (2): 472–473. JSTOR 42861924.
  3. Reitzes, Donald C.; Reitzes, Dietrich C. (1992). "Saul D. Alinsky: An Applied Urban Symbolic Interactionist". Symbolic Interaction. 15: 1–24. doi:10.1525/si.1992.15.1.1.
  4. "Vicki L. Ruiz". From out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America. Oxford: University press. 2008. ISBN 978-0195374773.
  5. Reitzes, Donald C.; Reitzes, Dietrich C. (1982). "Saul D. Alinsky: A Neglected Source but Promising Resource". The American Sociologist. 17 (1): 47–56. JSTOR 27702495.
  6. Trolander, Judith Ann (September 1982). "Social Change: Settlement Houses and Saul Alinsky, 1939-1965". Social Service Review. 56 (3): 346–365. doi:10.1086/644019. ISSN 0037-7961.
  7. Booth, John A.; David R. Johnson; Richard J. Harris (1983). The Politics of San Antonio : Community, Progress, & Power. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-8032-1178-0.
  8. Mark Warren, Dry Bones Rattling, 3-4
  9. Mark Warren, Dry Bones Rattling, 51
  10. The Decolonization of a City Archived 2006-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "The San Antonio COPS Revolution". lared-latina.com.

References

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

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