Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) is a coalition of non-partisan, grassroots community

pressure groups Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

based in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. It is an affiliate of the

Industrial Areas Foundation The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) is a national community organizing network established in 1940 by Saul Alinsky, Roman Catholic Bishop Bernard James Sheil and businessman and founder of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' Marshall Field III. The IA ...

(IAF), a group dedicated to

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

community organizing Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community buil ...

that was developed by

Saul Alinsky Saul David Alinsky (January 30, 1909 – June 12, 1972) was an American community activist and political theorist. His work through the Chicago-based Industrial Areas Foundation helping poor communities organize to press demands upon landlord ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

during the 1930s. Founded in 1974, COPS’ mission is to secure specific, concrete

standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available to an individual, community or society. A contributing factor to an individual's quality of life, standard of living is generally concerned with objective metrics outsid ...

improvements for neighborhoods traditionally neglected by city leaders through relational organizing. Though advocating primarily for the interests of

lower-middle class In developed nations around the world, the lower middle class is a subdivision of the greater middle class. Universally, the term refers to the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the middle or upp ...

and working class

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

s on the city's west and south sides, COPS avoids the label of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

organization, instead projecting itself as an agent for fair and equitable distribution of city resources and services. The COPS organization included many Catholic clergy, as well as many women determined to improve their communities and opportunities for their children. COPS success in this endeavor to date is remarkable, amounting to over one billion dollars in group-sponsored projects and initiatives.Mark Warren, Dry Bones Rattling, 3-4

Footnotes

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 The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...

, 1983. *Rogers, Mary Beth. ''Cold Anger: A Story of Faith and Power Politics''. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1990. *Sandoval, Moises. "The Decolonization of a City." https://web.archive.org/web/20061002100025/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

C.O.P.S./The Metro Alliance
official website

University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries (UTSA Libraries) The University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries (UTSA Libraries) is the academic library of The University of Texas at San Antonio, a state university, state research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. UTSA Libraries consists of the ...

houses
collection
of news clippings, project files, reports, budgets, programs and general office files for C.O.P.S. 1974 establishments in Texas Civic and political organizations of the United States Hispanic and Latino American working class Organizations established in 1974