The mission of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing is to advance the concept and practice of problem-oriented policing in open and democratic societies. It does so by making readily accessible information about ways in which police can more effectively address specific crime and disorder problems.
The Center for Problem-Oriented Policing is a non-profit organization comprising affiliated police practitioners, researchers, and universities dedicated to the advancement of problem-oriented policing.
Since the publication of the first POP Guide in 2001 over 900,000 copies of the POP guides and other POP Center publications have been distributed by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) to individuals and agencies throughout the world. POP Center materials are also widely used in police training and college courses.
Launched in 2003 the POP Center web site has provided innovative learning experiences, curriculum guides, teaching aids, problem analysis tools, and an immense range of information to its users. Among the many ongoing accomplishments of the POP Center web site are:
The POP Center web site was awarded the 2005 APEX Grand Award for Publication Excellence in Web & Intranet Sites. Wrote the judges: "Superbly researched and written reports clearly convey useful, actionable information in this easily-navigable, well-designed site." 
Michael S. Scott is the director of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, Inc. and clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. He was formerly chief of police in Lauderhill, Florida; served in various civilian administrative positions in the St. Louis Metropolitan, Ft. Pierce, Florida, and New York City police departments; and was a police officer in the Madison, Wisconsin, Police Department. Scott developed training programs in problem-oriented policing at the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), and is the current chairperson for the Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing. He was the 1996 recipient of PERF's Gary P. Hayes Award for innovation and leadership in policing. Scott holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School’s Frank J. Remington Center is the academic home of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing’s director, Michael Scott.
Ronald V. Clarke is a University Professor at the School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University. He previously headed the British government's criminological research department, where he had a significant role in developing situational crime prevention and the British Crime Survey. Clarke is the founding editor of Crime Prevention Studies, and his publications include Designing Out Crime (HMSO 1980, with Pat Mayhew), The Reasoning Criminal (Springer-Verlag 1986, with Derek Cornish), Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case Studies (Criminal Justice Press, 1997), Superhighway Robbery (Willan Publishing, 2003, with Graeme Newman) Crime Analysis for Problem Solvers (US Dept of Justice, 2005, with John Eck) and Outsmarting the Terrorists (Praeger 2006, with Graeme Newman). He has chaired the selection committee for the annual Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing. Clarke holds a doctorate in psychology from the University of London.
The School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University-Newark is the academic home of one of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing’s associate directors, Professor Ron Clarke. The Criminal Justice library there, under the direction of Phyllis Schultze, compiles most of the research literature used for the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police. Graduate students there also serve as research assistants to the POP Center.
Graeme R. Newman is distinguished teaching professor at the School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany. He has published works in the fields of the history and philosophy of punishment, comparative criminal justice, private security, situational crime prevention, e-commerce crime, and has written commercial software. He was CEO of a publishing company for 15 years and in 1990 established the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network. Among the books he has written or edited are: Superhighway Robbery: Crime Prevention and E-commerce Crime (with Ronald V. Clarke) and Rational Choice and Situational Crime Prevention (with Ronald V. Clarke and Shlomo Shoham). Professor Newman received his B.A. from the University of Melbourne in Australia and his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.
The University at Albany’s School of Criminal Justice is the academic home for one of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing’s associate directors, Professor Graeme Newman. Graduate students there also serve as research assistants to the POP Center. Design and programming work for the POP Center website is done mainly by staff at the Professional Development Program at the University at Albany.
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation’s state, local, territory, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime. Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) offers police a multifaceted approach to solving problems and preventing new ones from occurring. The COPS Office supports the development of problem-oriented policing guidebooks and other publications, web-based tools, and conferences to help police benefit from a full spectrum of POP strategies. COPS Office funding of the POP Center has resulted in the development of the www.popcenter.org web site, coordination of POP Conferences, and more than 84 POP Guides and Special Publications.
This project was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 2010CKWXK005 awarded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.
Bernard K. Melekian is the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office). Director Melekian was formerly chief of police for the City of Pasadena, California for more than 13 years. Prior to that he served with the Santa Monica Police Department and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office for 23 years. He has served as chairman of the California Attorney General's Blue Ribbon Committee on SWAT Policy, president of the Los Angeles County and the California Police Chiefs Associations, and a member of the Police Executive Research Forum Board of Directors. Director Melekian holds a bachelor's degree in American history and a master's in public administration, both from California State University, Northridge, and is a doctoral candidate in public policy at the University of Southern California. He retired from the Coast Guard Reserve in 2009 after 28 years of service.
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