Criminal Justice Alumnus Serves As UofL New England Ambassador

Edward Pocock III, who earned a 2015 master’s degree in criminal justice, has a steadfast commitment to supporting the University of Louisville’s Department of Criminal Justice. 

This commitment began in 2013 when Pocock attended the Administrative Officers Course, offered through the department’s Southern Police Institute (SPI). During his time at SPI, Pocock was impressed with how the faculty in the program built relationships with the students. Subsequently, Pocock and a friend established the J. Allen Lamb and Edward S. Pocock III Foundation, chartered to benefit programs such as UofL’s Southern Police Institute. 

“When I attended the 129th AOC cohort, the experience was life-changing for me. J. Allen saw that and as we formed the Foundation together, SPI became our guide. The University of Louisville’s SPI is a special place. For that matter, the entire University is just awesome.” 

Pocock’s time at SPI left such a lasting impression that it prompted the New England native to become an ambassador for UofL in his home area. Pocock’s overall goal is for UofL to have increased name recognition in the northeast and to encourage more students from New England to attend UofL. For this purpose, the Lamb-Pocock Foundation offers undergraduate scholarships for a progression of up to four New England area students to attend UofL. 

“The experience was life-changing for me…The University of Louisville’s SPI is a special place. For that matter, the entire University is just awesome.”— Edward Pocock

The Foundation also underwrites full scholarships each semester for two New England area students to earn academic credit by taking SPI’s Administrative Officers Course (AOC). In addition, he has worked with SPI to offer another one of its hallmark programs, the Command Officers Development Course, in New England every three years, providing a significant scholarship to all attendees from the New England states. “I have often expressed the Foundation’s end goal as represented by a rack of books representing time, pushed upright by two bookends. One bookend is represented by young adults from New England interested in a law enforcement career. Our scholarship allows them to see, first hand, how education and practical application work in unison. We believe that these young aspirants will come home and become future law enforcement leaders, attending, we hope, an AOC cohort someday. When those two bookends meet, we will have reached our goal.” 

Pocock’s efforts on behalf of the Department of Criminal Justice and SPI aren’t limited to scholarship support. As past chairman of the town council and several other local boards, for Southington, Connecticut, Ed draws on this experience, plus his 25-year career in law enforcement, to come to campus each semester to present an all-day seminar, “Police and Politics” for each new AOC cohort. “SPI is the standard for command-level police leadership. SPI has found a way to blend leading-edge research-based methodologies with dyed in the wool police practitioners—not always and easy thing to do. It’s truly magical what occurs at SPI and we want New England commanders to experience this.” 

In appreciation of these multiple initiatives, Pocock was selected by the Southern Police Institute as alumnus of the year in 2017.

Learn more about the undergraduate scholarships offered by the J. Allen Lamb and Edward S. Pocock III Foundation and the AOC scholarships.