Atkins
Warren Retires
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, (December
31, 2002) the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service
(CRS) announced the retirement of Central Regional Director Atkins
W. Warren. The Central Regional Office is located in Kansas City,
Missouri and serves the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and
Nebraska. Mr. Warren has served as Regional Director since August
27, 1990, and has worked for the Community Relations Service since
1984.
"Using his more than 34
years of law enforcement experience before joining CRS, Atkins
Warren has made an immense impact on police community relations
involving racial issues throughout the Central Region and the
Nation during his tenure. He is taking a well-deserved retirement
after many successful years," said CRS’ National Director
Sharee M. Freeman.
"The key focus throughout
his career has been racial conflict resolution through mediation
and conciliation, often avoiding court litigation," Ms. Freeman
said.
During the past decade, Mr. Warren
facilitated the development of an effective regional organization
of chiefs of police to address issues of contemporary policing,
violence, and race in their communities. The Central Regional
Chiefs of Police held their 13th annual meeting in 2002. He facilitated
a similar cooperative organization of regional school superintendents
who met annually for 10 years. Through Mr. Warren’s leadership
CRS field staff were deployed to assist hundreds of police departments,
schools, and communities on racial and diversity issues in Iowa,
Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
During the Los Angeles riots
in the 1990's he was handpicked to join the ranks of a select
few chosen to directly communicate with the LAPD, the Governor’s
office, Sheriff’s office and US Attorneys and the Attorney
General during an intensive on-site two month period.
Mr. Warren joined the Community
Relations Service in 1984 serving in a variety of positions at
the National Headquarters Office in Washington, DC between 1984
and his appointment as Regional Director in 1990. These included:
Special Assistant to the Director (1988 to 1990), Associate Director
for the Office of Technical Assistance and Support (1987-1988),
and Administration of Justice Specialist (1984-1986).
Prior to joining the Community
Relations Service, Mr. Warren was one of the first Black Chiefs
of Police in a major city in the United States, serving as Chief
of Police in Gainesville, Florida, from 1980 to 1984. He began
his professional career on May 3, 1948 with the St. Louis, Missouri,
Metropolitan Police Department, where he served in nearly all
operational areas. Beginning as a patrolman, he rose through the
ranks to become Lieutenant Colonel in charge of Internal Affairs,
Inspection and Evaluation, and Watchman Divisions. He left to
accept the Chief of Police position in Gainesville, Florida, in
September 1980.
Before joining the St. Louis
Police Department he served in the US Coast Guard.
Mr. Warren received a Bachelor
of Arts in Sociology, cum laude, from Webster University in Webster
Groves, Missouri, in 1975, and a Master of Arts in Public Administration
from Webster University in 1979.
A founding member of the National
Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Warren
served as its national president from 1981-1982. He is also a
life-member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police;
a member of the Police Executive Research Forum, the Missouri
Police Chiefs Association, the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and
a former member of the Florida Police Chiefs Association.
For more information about the
Community Relations Service, a unique racial conflict resolution
and prevention agency of the US Department of Justice, please
see its web site at: www.usdoj.gov/crs.
