COPS/Metro

San Antonio Before COPS/Metro

During the decades preceding COPS/Metro, dominant groups in San Antonio control city hall, systematically disinvesting in San Antonio's South, West, and East Sides, and denying opportunities to their mostly Mexican-American and Black...

"The Second Battle of the Alamo"

A group of church leaders organize to create Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS), and carry out a series of memorable actions that grab the attention of San Antonio's power establishment. Texas...

The First Big Fights

COPS leaders show they're here to stay, shutting down plans to build a shopping mall over the aquifer, flipping the SAISD school board, and fighting a water rate hike. They lose a...

The Metro Alliance

A group of congregations on the North and East Side of San Antonio decide to start their own IAF organization. They work alongside COPS, not always agreeing, to fight for everyday people...

1976-1990: No More Low Wage City

In 1976, COPS leaders get their hands on an infuriating report praising San Antonio’s low-wages and high supply of manual labor. A tense standoff with the city's business leaders eventually leads to...

1975-Now: COPS/Metro Transforms Neighborhoods

COPS/Metro has been transforming neighborhoods in San Antonio for 50 years, bringing parks, swimming pools, drainage, streets, sidewalks, and more! Read more here soon!

1980-1990: A City that Invests in People

COPS/Metro's biggest projects of the 1980's: Palo Alto College. The San Antonio Housing Trust. The San Antonio Education Partnership. And Vista Verde, a first-of-its-kind affordable housing project that offered childcare and job...

1980-1990: Building Statewide Power

Rising property taxes for seniors. An unsafe nuclear power plant. Schools without books. Air pollution. To address these issues, COPS leaders need to learn how to fight and win at the state...

1990-2000: Innovating in Workforce, Education, and Healthcare

COPS/Metro brings San Antonio a workforce program like nothing Texas has ever seen, and also brings teachers and parents together in new ways to transform schools. Read more here soon!

2000-2010: No Tax Breaks for Poverty Wages

When San Antonio offers the biggest tax break in its history to a golf resort over the Edwards Aquifer, COPS collects over 60,000 signatures to block the project. More coming soon!

2010-2020: Living Wages and the Decade of the Neighborhood

COPS/Metro fights for living wages for all public employees, and for funding to keep vulnerable residents from being priced out of their homes. Read more here soon!

The Pandemic and SA Ready to Work

When thousands lose jobs in the pandemic, COPS/Metro persuades the city of San Antonio to embark on its biggest idea yet: the nation's largest workforce development program. More coming soon!