Sonoma County residents have coffee with cops in 6 cities

By Nick Rahaim, The Press Democrat
Original article HERE

At the back of Cloverdale’s Plank Coffee Wednesday morning around a long table, Cloverdale Police Officer John Camara fielded questions on cannabis policy, youth curfews and bike safety.

Sgt. Chris Parker, acting chief while Stephen Cramer is on medical leave, framed answers on how recreational cannabis legalization would affect the underground marijuana trade.

Similar conversations around the county took place in Cotati, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa and Windsor coffee shops as part of the second annual National Coffee with a Cop Day. “Coffee with a Cop” started in Hawthorne in 2011 and spread to all 50 states. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Police Services implemented the national day.

Four Cloverdale police officers chatted with residents about public safety, guns and cannabis mixed with idle talk about the weather and local gossip. About a dozen residents spent an hour enjoying conversations with them over hot beverages. Police use such gatherings to build community trust and give officers and residents an opportunity to learn from each other in a casual setting.

Some of the early conversations Wednesday revolved around the mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night.

Parker said active shooters are always a concern. It’s a situation most police departments will never face, but must be ready for, he said.

Mayor Gus Wolter, who sat next to him, asked about off-duty officers carrying firearms. Parker said most do, and he sometimes carries a .380-caliber handgun when not on the clock.

Cloverdale resident Sandy Strack, 70, came with questions about cyclists not obeying traffic laws, but learned other information, such as residential cannabis grows would no longer be handled by police, but instead by city code enforcement.

The conversation veered toward “trimmigrants,” people who often hitchhike through Cloverdale on their way north for the marijuana harvest.

As everyone was beginning to leave around 10 a.m., two disheveled young men with heavy backpacks approached the front door of Plank Coffee.

“What were we saying about trimmigrants?” Parker asked with a large smile.

The two men were wide-eyed seeing they were about to enter a cafe where nearly a third of the Cloverdale police force was gathered. They bumped into each other trying to get out of the door, showing no interest in “Coffee with a Cop.”