Frankfort police host program to build relationships with residents

By Dennis Sullivan, Daily Southtown
Original article HERE

Shoppers at the Mariano’s in Frankfort had the chance to talk with members of the village’s police department Friday in a program Police Chief John Burica says is a key part of “21st Century policing.”

Burica told one visitor the 9 a.m. “Coffee With a Cop” event is intended to build relationships with residents.

The three year-old program, patterned after a similar one by police in Hawthorne, Calif., is coordinated by Patrol Officer Leanne Bender, who schedules it at local gathering places several times a year. Bender has headed the department’s crime prevention efforts for the past 10 years.

Deputy Chief Robert Krause said citizen-oriented programs “give us a way to communicate with the public outside of formal channels.” “Most people,” he added, “don’t call the police when things are going well.”

As shoppers wheeled their carts around the assembled law enforcement officers, Krause said the Coffee With a Cop program gives residents the chance to “talk about anything. There are no agendas.”

For example, Frankfort Square resident Vicky Gress talked with Bender about car burglaries in her area, while New Lenox resident Wayne Mason chatted with Detective Kevin Johnson about fishing in Michigan and the chances of the Detroit Red Wings ever winning the Stanley Cup again.

Frankfort resident Ralph Eisenbrandt, a 22-year veteran of Frankfort Fire Protection District, took advantage of the one-on-one get-together to chat with Burica, as well as former Fire Protection District Chief Larry Nice.

Burica said residents who feel more comfortable with the police are more likely to pick up the phone when they see something a little out of the ordinary.

“We want the resident to think, ‘They won’t mind if I call about that stranger.’ So often it’s nothing, but we want to know,” Burica said. “Our police are out on the street all the time.”

Mayor Jim Holland, who appeared at the event, said elected officials understand and support the department reaching out to residents.

“We still run a D.A.R.E. program; most communities have stopped it,” he noted.

Burica credits Holland and village trustees with seeing “the importance of proactiveness.”