Major Valerie Dalton is the Commander of the Community Oriented Policing Section (COPS), assigned February 2011. She is responsible for the dedicated men and women of the Crime Prevention Unit, Weed and Seed Unit, Police Athletic League, the Community Liaison Unit, and the LGBT and Hispanic Liaisons. These units have the primary mission of community engagement, education, and partnerships. Through dedicated problem solving, youth engagement, and community partners the Atlanta Police Department Community Oriented Policing Section is essential to crime reduction and increased quality of life for the citizens of Atlanta.Major V. S. Dalton has served the citizens of Atlanta since 1987. She was appointed to the rank of Major and assigned as Commander of Zone One in November of 2008. As Zone One Commander she was awarded The Atlanta Police Department’s Crime Reduction Award in 2008 and 2009. She also created a model Burglary Task Force Unit that effectively produced a noted Burglary reduction in Zone One. Her career has been extensive in assignments throughout the Atlanta Police Department. She served in the Field Operations Division assigned to Zone One as the Assistant Zone Commander, Zone Two as a Field Sergeant, and Zone Five as an Officer where she started her career. She served in the Criminal Investigations Division assigned as Unit Commander for Major Crimes (Auto Theft Task Force, Commercial Robbery, and Major Fraud), School Detectives as Unit Commander, and Narcotics as an Investigator. While assigned to the Narcotics Unit she created one of the unit’s first automated warrant documents. She is credited with seeking out technology that led to equipping the department with its first Auto Theft detection tag reader system, and launching a new tool for fighting Auto Thefts in the City of Atlanta. She served in the Support Service Division as the Commander of the Crime Analysis Unit, where she designed the department’s first Special Event Data Collection System. She also served in the Office of The Chief assigned to the Office of Professional Standards/Investigations and Advocacy. She designed that unit’s first automated Discipline Tracking System.Major Dalton has a Master of Business Administration, with a concentration in Criminal Justice, and a Graduate Certification in Criminal Justice Management from Saint Leo University. She is a graduate of Police Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) Senior Management Institute of Policing (SMIP) in Boston, Massachusetts. She is the Executive Director of the Atlanta Police Athletic League, and was named Manager of the Year in 2009.