Jack A. Cole
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Jack A. Cole is executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (or LEAP), a non-profit organization comprised of former and current police officers, government agents and other law enforcement agents who oppose the current War on Drugs.
Cole is a retired Detective Lieutenant who worked for the New Jersey State Police for 26 years. For twelve of those years, Cole worked as an undercover narcotics officer. The cases he investigated ranged from street drug users and mid-level drug dealers in New Jersey to international "billion-dollar" drug trafficking organizations. He ended his undercover career living nearly two years in Boston and New York City, posing as a fugitive drug dealer wanted for murder, while tracking members of a terrorist organization that robbed banks, planted bombs in corporate headquarters, court-houses, police stations, and airplanes and ultimately murdered a New Jersey State Trooper.
Since retiring, Cole has been active in working to reform current drug policy. His experiences as an undercover officer led him to the conclusion that the U.S. Government's war on drugs is unjust and steeped in racism. He contends that ending drug prohibition will be an important towards correcting social problems stemming from race and gender bias, as well a corruption in law enforcement.
Cole holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice and a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the University of Massachusetts. He is a national and international speaker who has taught courses to police recruits as well as veteran officers on ethics, integrity, and moral decision-making. He has spoken on drug policy at several colleges and universities, as well as on many radio programs. He has also addressed this issue at conferences and meeting across the United States, as well as in Europe.
