Police Homeless Outreach Team wins international award

The Colorado Springs Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team was awarded the prestigious Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing today at an international conference in Arlington, Texas.

The award, given by the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, recognizes "innovative and effective problem-oriented policing projects that have achieved measurable success in resolving recurring specific crime, disorder or public safety problems faced by police and the community."

"We're on cloud nine right now," said one of the three HOT officers, M.J. Thomson. "It's probably the biggest police award that you can get. It's pretty huge."

Thomson said there were 46 entries from around the world. Judges narrowed the list to 14 semifinalists, then six finalists, including a team from the United Kingdom. Each finalist made a presentation, and a team of judges and the audience voted on the winner.

CSPD has entered the contest before, Thomson said, but never made it to the finals.

"We're just kind of overwhelmed," Thomson said. "Our phones are going nuts."

The team was formed in June 2009 in response to criticism that items belonging to homeless campers were being tossed during police department cleanups of the camps, a potential violation of their civil rights.

Since then, the three team members -- Thomson, Dan McCormack and Brett Iverson -- have worked with Homeward Pikes Peak and numerous social service agencies to reach out to more than 500 people who were camping and offer them shelter or a program to get them off the streets.

Their efforts to get the homeless out of the camps was aided by a no-camping ordinance that City Council passed in February, but the HOT team has not had to issue any tickets.

In fact, many people who were camping have praised the HOT officers for their compassionate approach.

"It shows what a committed team of police officers can do, while collaborating with many other community resources to analyze and address significant community problems," said Police Chief Richard Myers. "I salute all who have contributed to this wonderful achievement, but also point out that the world towards addressing chronic homelessness in our community is far from done."