Coffee with a Cop

By Dean Cousino, The Monroe News
Original article HERE

Fraud, drug enforcement and lack of good-paying jobs in Monroe were hot topics among patrons at Tim Hortons Wednesday morning.

Addressing those issues was Trooper Don Stewart of the Monroe post of the Michigan State Police, who met with folks during an informal “Coffee with a Cop” session. He was able to engage citizens one on one with their concerns.

“Everybody is scrambling for an answer and we don’t (always) have an answer,” he told one diner.

Daryl Yourist, who works part-time at Kroger, disliked the problem his store has with people stealing pop bottles, emptying them and getting cash for returning them to the store.

“We’re so busy we don’t have the personnel to watch for these people,” Yourist, 64, told the trooper. “People are bringing in bags and stealing cases of soda. Our manager chased one person down the street. What would it take for you to have a presence there?”

Stewart said grocery stores here and in Bedford Township are getting “hammered” and “destroyed” with fraudulent bottle returns.

“We’re putting a plan together to deter that and charge them,” he responded. “I’m on your side. We see fraud coming in now that’s costing the taxpayers. Drugs and narcotics are driving 90 percent of that.”

Drug problem

Don J. Helser, a real estate appraiser, said Monroe has a good regiment of law enforcement officers, but there are not enough of them to control drug trafficking and addictions.

“Law enforcement is struggling to control the drug problem — there just aren’t enough policemen to patrol the streets,” Helser, 68, said. “These guys are doing so much and are here to help us all the time, but (they’re just) too busy.”

Stewart agreed and passed out copies of the state police’s Angel Program and a report from 2015-17 that showed crime, crashes, suspicious incidents and efforts to combat heroin use and abuse have risen steadily.

The Angel effort, a new initiative to combat opioid abuse, allows an individual struggling with drug addiction to walk into a state police post during regular business hours and ask for help.

Local restaurant owner Tony Sacco said Monroe is a good community to raise a family, but there is not enough “disposable income” to sustain families.

“We’re in a great location, but we have an aging population and young people don’t have the disposable income to spend … I don’t know why we can’t snag some big business here,” Sacco, 64, said.

A woman from Riverside Manor was eating bagels when the trooper discussed a suspected drug operation in her neighborhood.

“It’s a pretty safe spot over there and I know some of my neighbors, but there’s one house where young guys are going in and out all the time,” the retired 84-year-old woman said. “I’m afraid to say anything about it.”

Stewart, 47, said residents shouldn’t fear reprisals because they can call the Monroe Area Narcotics Team and Investigative Services (MANTIS) to investigate any suspected drug activity.

“If you live in fear, you’re being terrorized,” he told her. “Don’t be afraid to tell someone. If we don’t address it, we’re not going to fix it.”

Anyone having information about drug dealing is asked to call the MANTIS office at 240-2605.

Stewart, whose parents grew up in Detroit, said everybody knew each other in the neighborhood and relied upon each other. That’s not the case anymore today.

“What happened to those days?” he asked the woman.

A 1988 graduate of Monroe High School, he has worked six years at the Monroe post. He said police officers are not just traffic cops.

“Give us a call — that’s what we’re here for,” he told one visitor. “I’ve had people tell me, ‘You’re just like a normal person.’ That’s right. This is my home. We’re here to make sure people get home safely to their community.”

Aiding police

Also present Wednesday were Karl Rock, an emergency medical technician and supervisor with Monroe Community Ambulance; Donna Kuti, assistant director of Central Dispatch; Janis Smith, a dispatcher, and Michelle Geftos, a volunteer coordinator for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).

Rock said he was glad to see law enforcement reaching out to engage the community. The ambulance service operates from five different stations in the county: Ash, Bedford, Dundee and Monroe townships and the City of Monroe.

Kuti said some citizens become frustrated when they call and don’t always understand why dispatchers ask the questions they do.

“We’re trying to determine the level of emergency,” she said. “I understand their frustration. We have a series of questions, depending on the medical call, to assure they’re getting the appropriate help. The more information we get, the better prepared” the first responders will be.

Stewart commended the work of the dispatchers who relay vital information on the emergencies.

“They’re the ones who keep me alive,” he said. “Their call volume is (so high). They weed out the civil complaints and (not so serious) calls.”

He is planning two more Coffee with a Cop sessions — one in September at Tim Hortons on N. Telegraph Rd. and at Tim Hortons at Sterns and Secor Rds. in Lambertville.

“This is our first step in a three-part series to engage the public,” he said. “We want to sit down with them and see if we can solve (their) problems.”

He also plans to speak at a community health forum Oct. 14 at Bedford High School in Temperance.

Trooper Don Stewart can be reached at the Monroe post at 242-3500.