Jack A. Cole (born October 9, 1938) is a retired Detective Lieutenant who worked for the

New Jersey State Police The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors. History As with other state police organization ...

for 26 years. For twelve of those years, he worked as an undercover narcotics officer. Cole was the first executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, now known as

Law Enforcement Action Partnership The Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization group of current and former police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals who use their ex ...

(LEAP), an organization comprising former and current police officers, government agents and other law enforcement agents who advocate for justice reform and oppose the current

War on Drugs The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...

. Cole served as LEAP's executive director from 2002 - 2010.

Early life and education

Cole attended Wichita High School East and received a master's degree from

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus Un ...

Life and activism

Jack Cole has taught courses to police recruits and veteran officers on ethics, integrity, moral decision-making, and the detrimental effects of

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...

. Cole and his wife reside in Boston, Massachusetts. Cole spoke internationally for LEAP, and has written several articles about drug-policy reform. He holds a degree in Criminal Justice and a master's degree in Public Policy from the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

. Cole believes race and gender bias by police,

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

, and corruption in law enforcement can begin to be solved by ending drug prohibition.

References

1938 births Living people People from Boston People from New Jersey University of Massachusetts Boston alumni {{US-law-enforcement-bio-stub