Big turnout, friendly conversation for SIC’s first Coffee with a Cop event

By Bill Barlow, Shore News Today
Original article HERE

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Sea Isle City’s inaugural Coffee with a Cop session Monday morning, April 30, was everything new police Chief Thomas McQuillen hoped it would be.

Residents crowded Mrs. Brizzle’s Buns and Deli on Landis Avenue for the morning meet and greet, many chatting with officers or with neighbors. Coffee, tea, muffins and other baked goods were on the Police Department this morning.

“I want the public to get to know the police officers,” McQuillen said. “I want us to be more than someone driving by in a patrol car.”

Several officers attended what appeared to be the largest gathering in town on this windy spring morning. Officers chatted with residents and each other, sharing jokes and information. The talk at the meeting was not limited to police matters, but some residents had particular questions.

According to McQuillen, if officers can explain procedures in a friendly setting using layman’s terms, it heads off potential problems long before they arise. He used a traffic stop as an example — if a driver understands why an officer may seem abrupt and careful as a matter of procedure every time he stops a car, there is less likely to be a bad reaction or hard feelings from the driver, he said.

McQuillen started in Sea Isle City as a summer officers in 1993 and spent his career in town, moving up the ranks. In March, he became the chief of the 21-officer department. The town adds 30 more officers for the busy summer, including 25 Class II officers and five Class I. Class I seasonal officers can issue summonses, but have more limited powers and are typically assigned to crowd control. Class II officers have the same authority to arrest as a year-round officer. McQuillen said many of those hired for the summer will get year-round positions in departments around the state.

Informal Coffee with a Cop events have been used in neighboring towns and throughout the state, but this was a first for Sea Isle City. McQuillen plans to make them a monthly event, although he may not hold them in July and August when residents and police are at their busiest.

He described the events as good policing and a good way to build connections with the community. If neighbors feel comfortable with police, they are more willing to share information, he said. That works both ways. He said one resident had a question about the traffic lights on JFK at Landis Avenue, one of the busiest intersections in town. McQuillen said he did not have an answer but promised to reach out to county officials and get back to the resident.

Some of those gathered had specific questions, but for the most part the event was informal and friendly.

“It’s all positive,” McQuillen said, breaking off from a conversation with Cecil and Judy Cocatelli, year-round residents who also own businesses on the promenade. They were talking with McQuillen about teenagers gathering on the promenade, the oceanfront walkway that is Sea Isle City’s version of a boardwalk.

In years past, some business owners and residents have complained about gatherings of teenagers during the summer. In this instance, however, the Cocatellis were talking in more general terms. McQuillen said the police have a substation on the promenade in the summer, adding that officers make sure they have a strong presence there and throughout town.

Cecil Cocatelli said things in Sea Isle City are not what they once were.

“It’s different than it was years ago. Kids have to do something at night,” he said. “I’d put them to work if I could.”

That turned into a discussion of New Jersey’s rules for summer employees who are under 18.

For years, Sea Isle City struggled with a reputation as a party town. McQuillen said police have been very successful in addressing quality-of-life issues like noisy underage parties and enforcing rules against open containers of alcohol in public. He said that’s helped improve summers in the town over the years.

Lt. Bill Mammele described the morning meeting as a good chance to build bridges with the community. Tully O’Clisham, a Sea Isle patrolman, was off duty on Monday and showed up with his son, Declan, 2½, because, he said, he believes in the goal of bringing officers closer to the community.

Sgt. John Satzman praised the new chief. “I think he’s exactly what we need,” Satzman said. “He brings a lot of energy and a lot of ideas that we can use.”