2017 Award for Innovations in Community Oriented Policing

Officer Gregory Felton, Virginia Commonworth University

The IACLEA Award for Innovations in Community Oriented Policing is presented to an IACLEA institutional member of a campus public safety, police, or security department or an individual employee/team/unit of the member institution, for outstanding service and initiative supporting the effective promotion of the Community Oriented Policing philosophy. 

This year’s Award for Innovations in Community Oriented Policing is presented to Officer Gregory Felton of the Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department.  As VCU PD’s External Relations Officer, Officer Felton has truly established a successful community policing model that benefits not only the university but its surrounding communities.  Tasked with developing a community-based approach to off-campus student living problems, Officer Felton implemented a 4-tiered approach focused on recording, documenting and vetting the problem while following up with a strategic plan of action to address the issue.  This has resulted in a campus and non-campus community dedicated to community-based crime prevention.  On such example is the Annual Clean and Green Move Out project where campus and community partners work in tandem during semester move-outs resulting in a cleaner and safer community.  Last year alone, the volunteers of this program removed over 40 tons of trash and debris from city streets.