Springfield police participate in national ‘Coffee with a Cop’ day

By Patrick Johnson, MassLive
Original article HERE

Sitting with a bagel and a cup of coffee inside the South End Dunkin’ Donuts, Springfield police officer Stephen Tyburski said it’s all in a day’s work.

“It’s not so bad,” he said.

Tyburski was not taking a break; he was where he was supposed to be, and doing what he was supposed to be doing: drinking coffee and chatting with anyone interested in talking to him.

Springfield police, joined police department across the country on Wednesday, with staging Coffee with a Cop meetings across the city. Officers converged on 6 Dunkin’ Donut locations and one McDonald’s for two hours. The events were not a law-enforcement thing, as much as they were a community-building thing.

Tyburski said the sit-downs are part of creating “an open dialog” between police and residents.

“It allows anyone who want to talk to come up and ask questions,” he said.

Tyburski, a member of the Ordinance Enforcement Unit, said he had several conversations with residents. Some of them were serious, about quality of life problems that need address, and some were just pleasant exchanges and how-are-you-doing small talk.

Some of the conversations leads to what the police call actionable intelligence. This can be someone with too much trash in their yard, or felony activity the next block over. Beyond that, it also allows people to realize the cops are approachable.

“Mommy! Mommy!,’ a young boy shouted as his mother put cream and sugar in her coffee. “It’s the police!”

He pointed to the corner where some officers were sitting. He was given a badge sticker to put on his sweatshirt.

A 21-year veteran, Tyburski said it’s really quite a change from when he started with the department and relations between the police and public were not alway so cordial.

“It’s different,” he said. “It’s no so bad.”

Sara Westhaver, a spokeswoman for Dunkin’, said ” Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees in Western Massachusetts are proud to partner with local law enforcement to support their ‘Coffee with Cop’ initiatives. Being a part of local community, they are committed to serving those who serve others.”

Coffee with a Cop events started a few years ago and rapidly spread across the law enforcement community nationwide. Hundreds of departments including several in Western Massachusetts recognized pretty quickly that the sit-downs are a simple, quick and cost-efficient way of connecting with members of the general public.

For members of the public, it is an opportunity to meet with police in a quiet, friendly, non-confrontational way. It’s a chance to interact rather than to act and react.

Carolyne Meuse said she was a fan.

Meuse, the complex care coordinator for Mercy Medical Center, stopped in at the Dunkin Donuts for the scheduled meeting of the South End C3 team and found the Coffee with a Cop session ongoing.

“I think it’s amazing,” she said. “It is amazing the work they do on behalf of the public.”

Events like this help to demystify police officers and make it easier for people to approach police for help.

The Metro Unit, in particular, is doing great work in making the South End safe for residents and visitors.

Officer Martin Curley, assigned to the C3/Metro unit, which patrols the South End and downtown, said measures to increase interaction between the police and the public have benefitted both.

Since the casino opened, he commonly sees visitors walking around in the South End, where just a few years ago that would have been rare.

People will commonly come up to him on the street and ask questions or seek directions. Residents seem less distant or reluctant to talk to police.

“We’re seeing changes,” he said.

Yolanda Cancel, the C3 coordinator for the South End, said the shift in the department under Commissioner John Barbieri over the last few years has helped improve relations between police and the public.

She said years ago she witnessed her son being beaten by police and said it affected her view of officers. Now, having interacted with officers at C3 meetings, on the streets of the South End, and at sessions like Coffee with a Cop, she said view of police has changed.

“If a cop is bad, he’s also bad out of uniform. If a cop is good, you get a sense of who he is out of uniform,” she said.